Thisbe

"Thisbe" (100x65 cm) - oil - Almeriane 2009

Here is my last oil painting on canvas, concerning the love story of Thisbe & Pyramus.

This story is a part of the Roman mythology.

"Thisbe and Pyramus were two lovers but forbidden by their parents to see each others. As their houses were connected, through a crack in one of the walls, they wisper their love for each other.

One day, they arrange to meet under a mulberry tree.

Thisbe arrives first, but upon seeing a lioness with a mouth bloody from a recent kill, she flees, leaving behind her veil. The lioness mutilates it. When Pyramus arrives, he is horrified at the sight o Thisbe´s veil, assuming that a fierce beast had killed her. Pyramus kills himself, violently thrusting a sword into his groin, and in turn splashing blood on the white mulberry leaves. Pyramus' blood stains the white mulberry fruits, turning them dark. Thisbe returns, eager to tell Pyramus what had happened to her, but she finds Pyramus' dead body under the shade of the mulberry tree. Thisbe, after a brief period of mourning, stabs herself with the same sword. In the end, the gods listen to Thisbe's lament, and forever change the color of the mulberry fruits into the stained color to honor the forbidden love." (Ref. Wikipedia)

I already have an idea for him but I have to do some sketches, as I don´t know yet his features, for he is one of my new models.

Thisbe is my little cousin Barbara.