| portfolio 1 Metamorphoses |
| portfolio 2 Belle |
| portfolio 3 Belle 2 |
| portfolio 4 B&W Figure |
| portfolio 5 Colour Figure |
| portfolio 6 Landscapes |
| portfolio 7 Landscapes 2 |
| portfolio 8 Portraits |
| portfolio 9 Behind-the-Scenes |
Belle
Balnea Vina Venus
200: based on “In the Tepidarium” by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
What is it that makes a painting more or less erotic? The subject? The pose? The beauty of the sitter? Surely all three but there are other important elements as well. The “Tepidarium”? by Lawrence Alma Tadema, painted in 1881, is made up of a number of elements that would not of themselves be considered particularly erotic.In this case it is the mix which is perfect: the suffused light, the feeling of heat, the blushing cheeks, the undulating curves of the body lying on its side, the CD which looks set to fall, the cell-phone (replacing the strygil in the original), even the redness of the azalea lends something to the erotic charge.
When I saw Monica at the casting session I thought of her immediately for the Tepidarium . What is more no one else could have interpreted the role better than her, not just for her reddish hair, her profile and and her long legs - though all of them perfect, plenty of other women have these attributes - but for her sensuality which the photo demands.
I asked her to bring some personal possession to add to the set. She brought her dancing shoes because her passion is the tango. From this starting point I dressed the rest of the set: the tango CD replaced the feather fan of the original; the telephone with its message “tango tonight!”? on the display, the strygil. She also brought some crystals, seen next to the CD player, a small detail that Sir Lawrence would have appreciated – a nod towards her profession of masseuse. A profession that has to do with the subject of the painting: the thermal baths.
