They depict Salome, daughter of Herod II and Herodias, an historical and biblical figure, dancing with joy as the head of John the Baptist is brought to her by a servant.

One smaller full-portrait version (45,7 × 24,7 cm) was exhibited at the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden from 1953 until 1991, when it was reconveyed to the private owner.

[1] A larger version (115,5 × 62,5 cm) in a three-quarter view is part of the permanent exhibition at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich.

The earlier and smaller painting shows Salome as a full portrait, where the bare feet of the dancer and other details of the background can be seen.

The larger painting, on the other hand, only shows a section: the dancer is shown in a three-quarter length portrait beginning above the knees.

The woman's upper body is bare, while the neck, décolleté, hair and arms are adorned with gold jewelry, set with precious stones.

He already had posed for the photographer, probably with his wife Mary, for the painting Kampf ums Weib (1905) as one of the wrestlers, and for Dissonanz (1910), in the role of Pan.

According to the art critic Hans Hofstätter, "the femme fatale, and especially Salome was the social symbol of the turn of the century and thus the double of the artist, who also knows that he prostitutes himself and reveals his most sacred feelings and secrets cheaply".