Ekphrasis

John Varriano has been fascinated by Greek and Roman Mythology since his childhood.  After many years of making Art, he desired to focus his figurative painting skill, anatomical knowledge, and compositional prowess on the creation of a series of large Mythological paintings. The well for creative potential was limitless, his ideas were numerous, thus he settled on a few themes, to begin with. ‘The Judgement of Paris’, ‘Diana and Actaeon’, and a Bacchanalian scene, formed a trilogy of concepts that he started to work on.

He began working with different models in various poses. Painting directly on individual canvases using oil paint, Varriano started formulating his compositions. This painting, ‘Reclining Nude with a Violin," and a companion piece, ‘Nude with a mask’, comprised two works that were to form part of the large Bacchanalian scene in his trilogy.

This painting beautifully displays Varriano’s instinct for posing the nude. We see the wonderful structure of the model’s body as it recedes back in perspective. We sense corporeal gravity as her body forms a gentle depression in the bed that she is lying on. The Violin depicted with the

strings and sound holes missing, lends a subtle air of silence to the work.

The light blue against gold displayed in the bed sheets, and the rosy ochre of the wall against the green pillowcases, form two sets of sensual contrast. The strong depiction of light and shadow indicates an incandescent light source which gives the painting a nocturnal feel.