Carnival

Two costumed figures stand close together against a near-black ground. At left, a pale mask peers from beneath a black tricorn hat, the body wrapped in dark fabric that dissolves into shadow. Beside it a woman's calm, pale face rises from a dense hood of pink and violet silk flowers; she holds a folded fan against a blue gown patterned with gold.

Paint is built up thickly around the flowered headdress, pastel strokes catching light in white and pink against otherwise sunken, brownish darkness. The blue skirt is scored with loose gold linework, while the two faces remain the only sharply resolved passages in a smoky, textured surface, giving the pair a masked, theatrical air.