Salomé - Domien VAN DEN BOSSCHE (1854-1906)

“Salomé” by Domien VAN DEN BOSSCHE (Ghent 1854-1906)

This Salomé expresses precisely that which the tradition has attributed to her: she appears as beautiful and impulsive, sensual yet heartless, and cunning and incalculable.

The fiery gaze and the unruly hair underscore the temperamental character that would finally cost John the Baptist his life. Particular attention is paid to the gossamer-like execution of all manner of details: the original necklace with half moons, strung onto a string with a button at the back; a fine hairnet can be discerned and even a small hole in each earlobe. The absence of jewellery and her expression, which does not seem to be one of seduction, could be showing a Salomé who, following her lascivious intrigues, has had a change of heart.


The belgian sculptor Domien VAN DEN BOSSCHE (Ghent 1854-1906)

Relative to the quantity of works by this artist that are in circulation in the art market, there is relatively little information available about the man himself. The likenesses of smiling young women wearing a straw hat or a lace bonnet executed in terracotta are legion, both in museums and in the art trade but this gifted artist from Ghent, an accomplished craftsman, realized a whole lot more and quite differently than one would initially believe.

It arouses astonishment that art historians were only able to answer the man who had a determinant impact on official buildings, bridges and cemeteries of his hometown with oblivion. In the catalogue of the exhibition “Gent. Duizend jaar kunst en cultuur” (1975) (Ghent. One thousand years of art and culture), which is nonetheless extensive, his name is not even mentioned.

Domien Van Den Bossche nevertheless realized outstanding classical sculptures, both for interior and exterior use for the main buildings of the University of Ghent: the fronton of the façade, allegorical figures for niches, as well as all manner of decorative ornaments of his own invention. The large bronze groups that adorn the abattoir of Lille are of his hand.

Funerary sculptures by Van Den Bossche in East Flanders are undoubtedly prime examples of his better work.

The fact that this sculptor participated regularly in art exhibitions in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent with mainly marble entries, including portraits that were redolent of character and often prestigious, only serves to underscore the disappointment at the lack of any substantial research devoted to this artist.

For this reason alone, it is difficult to imagine a better means to familiarize oneself with the talent and inspiration of this artist in the shadows, than the finely executed masterpiece presented here. The aesthete Van Den Bossche seems to have given himself the aim of entrusting marble to life itself.