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Lot Essay
Semiramis, an Assyrian queen of the 13th century B.C., was both a historical and legendary figure of importance. Though her name means dove (Schamiram), she is remembered as the tyrannical founder of Babylon and a 'bellicose conqueror.' According to the legend, she was abandoned in the desert by her mother, and fed by doves before being taken in by shepherds. When she died, she ascended into heaven as a dove.
Emile Hébert, no doubt inspired by this tale like his contemporaries Voltaire and Crébillon, captured the Queen as she morphs into a dove. The inscription Semiramis also refers to the famous Assyrian winged-bulls depicted on the base that Hébert would have seen at the Louvre in Paris.
Hebert used different color patinas and gilding to heighten the exotiscm of this kind of Baudelairian femme fatale, that would have appealed to the audiences of the late 19th century.
Emile Hébert, no doubt inspired by this tale like his contemporaries Voltaire and Crébillon, captured the Queen as she morphs into a dove. The inscription Semiramis also refers to the famous Assyrian winged-bulls depicted on the base that Hébert would have seen at the Louvre in Paris.
Hebert used different color patinas and gilding to heighten the exotiscm of this kind of Baudelairian femme fatale, that would have appealed to the audiences of the late 19th century.