Ariadne’s Thread

A nude woman seen from behind stands opposite a bare-chested man who grips a length of red cord in his lowered hands; between them, dim light picks out a bull's head glowing out of the darkness like an apparition. Sweeping red cloth billows on either side of the canvas, and a round gold shield etched with a coiled dragon motif rests near the man's hip. Thin arrows stand upright in the black background, and loose red pigment scatters across the lower half of the scene like dust.

A near-monochrome scheme of black, gold and saturated red dominates, with flesh tones the only cool departure from the heat of the palette. Smooth, controlled modeling gives the two figures a sculptural, academic finish, while the drapery and scattered particles are handled more loosely, almost as spray, to suggest motion. The theatrical lighting and confrontational placement of the figures create a charged, ritualistic mood.