Corelli Harem Scene 1975

In Corelli's ancient world, the Poet Laureate was a national celebrity and was granted a palace to live in, complete with a harem full of beautiful young girls. Corelli the author has fun describing this scene as well as the intrigues and competition that spring up among these girls, all of whom are eager to spend time with the curiously inattentive Poet. Here you can see a bevy of these young things, waiting around hatching plots and doing their pastimes. To the lower right is the harem girl "Niphrata," an especially young and innocent harp player who adores the Poet but is ignored by him. Behind the harp is a standing painted screen in blue and gold. I put the screen into Corelli's imaginary palace because the real screen was my mother's painting and she had just finished it in 1975 when I painted this.

Corelli Harem is ink and watercolor on Canson textured paper, 10" x 8", 1975. Click on image for a larger view.