Duet

A woman with feathers in her hair sits behind an oversized cello whose body reveals visible clockwork gears, bowing its strings while resting her cheek on one hand. Beside her, seen from behind and wrapped in white cloth banded with black stripes, a second woman draws a bow across a violin, as white doves perch nearby amid red drapery and an old mandolin on the wall.

Warm ochre and gold tones cover the aged wall, set against deep red drapery and pale flesh, with strong directional light modeling the two figures. The mix of faux-antique lettering, worn gilding and precise anatomical drawing gives the scene a hushed, enigmatic air, as if staged inside an old workshop of allegory.