Illusionist

A bearded man in a tall patterned hat and green coat holds up a playing card while small orbs float above his other hand; beside him stand a birdcage, an hourglass, a chalice and flower, and a boxed skeletal bird. To his right a woman with a towering red-feathered headdress and striped stockings balances one leg on a stool, midriff bare. An owl and small parrot perch nearby, and a white rabbit sits beside a diamond-patterned jester's cap.

Warm greens, ochres and deep reds glow under focused theatrical light, painted with fine glazed detail and sharp, precise contour. The crowded assortment of curiosities and the performers' composed, steady gazes create a still, eerie, theatrical atmosphere of suspended illusion.