The Philosopher at Night

Here's Timotheus Macrobius again, the pagan Philosopher. He's up at night, for what reason I don't know. I did lots of research on costume, furniture, the multi-flame oil lamp, and the rough textures of Roman brick and plaster. I seem to have done many illustrations of him for the book, but why? Probably because he was based on a professor of Latin whose classes I loved (Later Roman/Medieval Latin!) but also, Macrobius saves the heroine from a raging mob in the harbor of Constantinople.

Ink and watercolor on sketchbook page, 5 1/2" x 9", 1974. I was a student at Brandeis University when I did all these illustrations.