This painting was part of my earlier improvised lecture to my students about the nature of Beauty in the Western civilization from Ancient Greece and Renaissance to the present day. That old concept of Beauty was fundamental principle of understanding the world together with the ideas of the Truth and Good. It was never about the Beauty alone. Our collective understanding of Beauty today is contaminated with the trends, fashion, concept of celebrities and movie industry. Beauty really became "skin deep". My model is consequently surrounded with the example of marble heads from the past. Her gesture in ambivalent. We don't know if she is "coming or going". It was a lot of fun to paint it and my students observing the process gave me the most interesting interpretations. I agree with all of them without exceptions.
