The Death of Marcus Aurelius

The Death of Marcus Aurelius

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Intrigue


James Ensor, The Intrigue (1890) 

Ensor regularly depicted his characters with grotesque masks, as if they were members of some surreal carnival. While a mask is intended to hide who we are, it can have an uncanny way of actually revealing who we are. 

The scene was apparently inspired by the gossip about a scandalous marriage in Ensor's family, showing how we love to pervert what ought to be beautiful



No comments:

Post a Comment