«WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS»
2008, canvas, Mozart score, mixed technique, acrylic, 162х220 cm

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS_author Boris Laurentiev

"Cupid and Psyche" – an ancient Greek myth depicted in the 18th century by Francois Gerard. Reflected mirror-like, the pair - still essentially children - are frozen and seem to be listening to something. "Hannibal ad portas!" – "Hannibal at the gates!" - an expression of the highest danger in Rome, here this stencilled inscription breaks the idyllic landscape as a black vertical line. Psyche looks as if she has just woken up and faced reality. Her look changes suddenly from the trembling of a first kiss to a kiss to say goodbye to illusions. The romantic picture of the past is being ruined before these children’s eyes; colours become dense and rich, while the thin stripe of a note looks like a tear on Psyche’s cheek.