Gilbert Lewis, Reclining

High on a bed and reclining on a white blanket, this provocative figure seems to be poured into the contours of his soft support. The artists of the Italian Renaissance were a constant inspiration for Lewis, and this work may have been inspired by Titian’s or Giorgione’s depictions of the goddess Venus who was often depicted reclining on white fabric. These figures represent carnal love as a pure, beautiful ideal.