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Ruth Asawa photographed by Imogen Cunningham.

Mariamne leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod (1887), by J.W. Waterhouse

Waterhouse painted another historical scene with Queen Mariamne who was falsely accused by Salome, the sister of King Herod, of a plot to murder him. Here she just heard her death sentence and descends the stairs to meet her fate. The pose is very theatrical, wherein the young woman – as so often in Waterhouse’s paintings – is portrayed as the strongest person. She is standing in the bright light, whereas the ignorant judges and the weak king are hardly visible in the background. With 2.6 x 1.8 m, this is the largest painting Waterhouse ever made in his career.

In 1886, Waterhouse had joined the Art-Workers‘ Guild. This was a movement that promoted fine and applied art, closely associated with the well-known Arts & Crafts movement led by William Morris. There, Waterhouse met a lot of painters with different styles, including Thomas Francis Dicksee, John Macallan Swan, John Brett and Solomon J. Solomon. The controversial Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848-1860) appealed to Waterhouse and he helped in its rehabilitation.

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