Alexandre Cabanel, The Birth of Venus, 1863. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Public domain.
"There is a quality of feminine presence
that has no modern name."
Bouguereau, Nymphs and Satyr, 1873. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute."Beauty was once
a spiritual practice."
"Sensuality,
a form of wisdom."
Bouguereau, L’Aurore, 1881. Birmingham Museum of Art.
Waterhouse, Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896. Manchester Art Gallery.
Alma-Tadema, A Favourite Custom, 1909. Tate Britain."The body,
a sacred instrument."
"Somewhere,
we forgot."
They left very little behind…
Only their art,
survived in fragments.
Veiled hints,
wistings long forgotten.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Favourite Poet, 1888. Oil on panel. Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight. Public domain.