Lélio (A Berlioz)

Henri Fantin-Latour 1836 - 1904

Summary

This print is quite dark and hazy with deep shadows in the background so that few details can be distinguished and only the suggestion of vegetation and trees is made. However, out of this shadow, in the foreground are two female figures and a stone bust of a man mounted on a column and plinth, which is slightly left of centre. One of the women, who is nude apart from a piece of material draped across her lap, is seated at the base of the column to its right, and she is depicted looking out to the left whilst she supports a vertical board to her right and holds a pencil in her right hand. She appears to be about to start drawng and is absorbed in her own thoughts. Also on the right hand side, above the seated woman, is the other female figure who is fully clothed and winged. The winged woman's upper body is highlighted slightly by the light which falls from the left, drawing attention to her outstretched arms as she holds laurels over the statue's head as a sign of honour and fame. In her right hand she holds a quill whose tip rests upon the top of the column as if she were about to write.