Without a doubt, Gustave Moreau, the son of an architect, was one of the greatest Symbolist artists born and raised in Paris.

His father recognized Gustave's desire to be an artist and in 1846, sent him to study art at the Paris Beaux de Arts. The major influence reflected in Moreau's work, did not come from his instructor, but from a close friend, Théodore Chassériau, with whom Gustave was intimate when they both lived in the Rue Frochot in 1850. We find reminiscences even in his later works, after Chasseriau's death in 1857. At the time, however, he was a 27 year old with no money and no prospects - the proverbial starving artist.

Gustave Moreau marked the beginning of his best period after exhibiting at the Salon of 1864, choosing his subjects from history, religion, legend and fancy. Gustave chose literary and mythological subjects, painting them in a highly imaginative manner, using rich Oriental color harmonies. Moreau had many successes at the Salon winning prize medals in 1864, 1865, 1869 and 1878. He became knight of the Legion of Honour in 1875 and officer in 1883. Even with all these successes, Moreau felt no need to court the Salon as he had private means and chose to spend much of his life in seclusion.

As an heir of Romanticism and an admirer of the Italian masters, Gustave Moreau became one of the great masters of sexual Symbolism. He defined his art as a "passionate silence".

He was also particularly obsessed with the personage of Salome and made her one of the main themes in his work, if not the most important. In many variations on this theme, he portrayed Salome as both a seductress and an innocent.

In 1892 he became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and proved an inspiring teacher, showing his pupils how to use their own talents rather than trying to impose his own ideas on them. Some of his pupils went on to become very famous, including Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. Rouault became one of Moreau's close friends.

Gustave Moreau died in 1898. He bequeathed his house to Georges Rouault. Rouault made Moreau's house the Moreau Museum in Paris and became its first curator. The bulk of his work is now preserved there.