Charles Alphonse Paul Bellay
French ( b.1826 - d.1900 )
Salome
| Image size | 16.7 inches x 12.2 inches ( 42.5cm x 31cm ) |
| Frame size | 21.3 inches x 16.7 inches ( 54cm x 42.5cm ) |
£3,495.00
Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset, this original orientalist painting is by the French artist Charles Alphonse Paul Bellay and dates from around 1860.
The painting is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary frame (which is shown in these photographs), mounted using conservation materials and behind non-reflective ArtGlass AR 70® glass.
This antique watercolour is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The watercolour is signed lower right.
Charles Bellay was a French academic painter and engraver. His career sits comfortably within the mainstream traditions of 19thcentury French art, particularly his historical and Orientalist work. He was born in Paris on 22ndMarch 1826 and died in the same city on 7th August 1900.
He was the son of the Lyon painter and engraver Francois Bellay, who first encouraged his artistic talents. He went on to study engraving at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he was a student of Édouard Picot and Louis Pierre Henriquel-Dupont, who was a great renovator of French engraving. Bellay’s training in Paris was at a time when the École des Beaux-Arts and the Paris Salon dominated artistic life. Like many artists of his generation, his academic training emphasised strong draughtsmanship, and careful modelling of the human figure.
In 1852, Bellay was awarded the Prix de Rome for his engraving work and then joined the prestigious Villa Medici, working there from 1853 to 1857. During this time, he made a series of copies of works by the great masters: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. These became the property of the Minister Adolphe Thiers before becoming part of the permanent collection of the Louvre Museum. Bellay became friends with Paul Baudry and Jules-Elie Delaunay. He went on to make an engraved portrait of Delaunay, which is now kept at the Gustave Moreau Museum in Paris.
Within his lifetime Bellay was recognised as an accomplished and respected reproductive engraver and in some circles his reputation as an engraver was at least as significant as his standing as a painter. His engraving work consisted of producing engravings after paintings by established academic artists. This was a highly skilled and prestigious branch of 19th-century art practice, requiring exceptional draughtsmanship, patience, and technical control. Engraving was not secondary work; it was a respected profession that played a central role in disseminating fine art before photographic reproduction became widespread. Engravers selected to reproduce major works were trusted artisans, and Bellay’s involvement in this field places him firmly within the professional academic art world, rather than on its margins.
Bellay’s engraving practice directly informed his painting. His precise draughtsmanship is evident in the confident outlines and structural clarity of his figures. His compositional discipline reflects the engraver’s need for balance and legibility. This dual practice - of being both an engraver and a painter - was not uncommon among academically trained artists of the period and often enhanced an artist’s technical reputation.
As an artist Bellay worked in both oils and watercolour. His watercolour works are notable for soft, controlled washes, refined modelling of flesh tones and careful attention to details of costume, jewellery and accessories.
From 1861 onwards Bellay split his residence between Paris and Rome and began to exhibit both his engravings and paintings on a regular basis. His choice of subjects aligned well with Salon taste, with his emphasis on biblical heroines, historical tales and exotic or classical themes that allowed for expressive costume and moral story telling. He also produced Orientalist scenes, reflecting the 19th century French fascination with the Near East and North Africa. His allegorical and classical themes are rendered with elegance rather than overt drama. His figures are usually idealised, calm, and composed, even when the subject matter is dramatic. Rather than emphasising violence or theatrical tension, Bellay favoured poise, dignity, and psychological restraint, which aligns closely with mid-century academic sensibilities.
Bellay became a member of the Committee of the Society of Fine Arts and won various medals for his painting, in 1861, 1866 and 1869. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1873.
Whilst Bellay does not occupy the highest tier of 19th-century French painters, his work is certainly respected within the academic and Orientalist tradition. Today, his paintings are appreciated by collectors who value signed, well-executed Salon-style works and biblical or historical subjects with strong visual appeal.
His prints occasionally appear in museum collections, print rooms and specialist auctions, valued for their craftsmanship and historical interest. His original paintings, such as the one offered here, are more rare.
Examples of both his engraving and painting works can be found in various public collections, including at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
© Big Sky Fine Art
This striking original watercolour on paper by Charles Bellay (1826–1900) presents a richly evocative interpretation of Salome, the enigmatic biblical figure associated with the Dance of the Seven Veils and the execution of John the Baptist. Signed by the artist in the lower right, the work exemplifies Bellay’s interest in sensuous, theatrical subjects drawn from scripture and 19th-century Orientalist imagination.
A finely executed 19th-century French watercolour depicting Salome, shown as a richly adorned and contemplative figure. Bellay’s luminous washes, warm ochre palette, and elegant drapery create a work of strong visual presence and psychological depth. An evocative biblical subject with Orientalist influence, offering excellent appeal to collectors of French academic art.
Salome is depicted as a youthful, luxuriously adorned woman, her figure wrapped in softly draped, golden-brown fabric that clings and folds with fluid elegance. Her elaborate headwear, jewellery, and armlets reinforce her status as a courtly and seductive presence, aligning closely with late 19th-century artistic conceptions of the femme fatale. The warm palette of ochres, muted golds, and delicate flesh tones enhances the atmosphere of opulence and quiet tension.
She holds a long sword, its blade marked with traces of red, while her lowered gaze and introspective expression introduce a note of psychological ambiguity. Rather than overt drama, Bellay suggests a moment of reflection, capturing Salome as a figure poised between desire, power, and consequence. This restrained, contemplative treatment accords closely with literary and artistic interpretations of Salome current in French academic and Symbolist-influenced circles of the period.
Bellay’s handling of watercolour is confident and painterly, employing transparent washes to achieve luminosity and depth while retaining fine control in the rendering of facial features and ornamental detail. The composition balances sensual beauty with latent violence, creating a work that is both visually alluring and morally complex.
This painting stands as a compelling example of 19th-century French biblical subject painting, reflecting contemporary fascination with exoticised settings and psychologically charged female protagonists. As an original signed watercolour by Charles Bellay, it offers strong appeal to collectors of academic, Orientalist, and narrative biblical art.
Salome - Bellay, Charles Alphonse Paul