Back in 410 AD, here's another portrait of Heliodorus, the eunuch from the Byzantine court. I did a lot of renderings of him, because I was fascinated by him. Why was I fascinated by a eunuch (a male castrated in his youth)? Isn't that gross and weird? I liked Heliodorus because he was so weird. There really was a "Byzantine" style of politics and he knew it well. I also admired him because he had been able to climb up the political ladder from a mutilated slave to buying his freedom and making a fortune in shipping. I'm not the only one to be fascinated by eunuchs. Anne Rice, the author of vampire fame, wrote a book called "Cry to Heaven," about a castrato singer in the music world of the eighteenth century. She did a whole lot more research than I did.
Watercolor and ink on sketchbook page, 5 1/2" x 9", spring 1974. Click for larger view.
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