The Lady Letticianza Unmasked...

...at the Carnival of Venice. She is posed for a quick capture--whatever quick means in her era. With Victorian and Baroque influences, this piece was done with a combination of Japanese watercolors and acrylic paints with pen work to add details.

The story of this piece goes...after her sitting, The Lady Letticianza stood to regain some flexibility from her atrophied muscles. She then had her powder, hair and feathers checked, and her Carnival mask reattached. This year's theme had been Sagittarius the Archer: More than a Constellation.

The Lady Letticianza was a beauty and intellectual. Preparing for the Carnival had been as much a research and thinking exercise as it had been the skill and dexterity of the artisans who made her gown all the way to those who created her stunning mask--based on her direction and under her watchful and appreciative eyes. Carnival was the icing on the cake, providing the rare opportunity to prance invisibly amongst her peers and delight in the anonymity she felt.

The photos below including her pose at the sitting with and without her mask.

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