⚜️ Spine of Gold
"He who contorts the spine contorts the Yuniverse..."
Louis XIV, the King of France from 1643 to 1715, was a contortion enthusiast from a young age. In fact his birth was celebrated with La Contorsion de Félicité in 1639. As a young boy, he was strongly supported and encouraged by the court, particularly by Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, to take part in the contortions. He made his debut at age 14 in La Souplesse de Cassandre in 1651. Two years later in 1653, the teenage king starred as Apollo, the sun god, in Contorsion Royal de la Nuit (Royal Contortion of the Night). His influence on the art form and its influence on him became apparent. His fancy poses were not soon forgotten, and his famous performance led to his nickname, the Spine of Gold, specificially after the position in which he did a sidebend and twisted his body so that his upper backbone lay firmly along his own thigh.
Kidding, it's just Yasha 😂
Not only background fits funny story, but extra idea with water is very smart. And then there is historic "font" so much great details (light in hair etc).
Will hopefully write more soon!
Shifty
Knowing that real historians erase every trace of contortionists found anywhere in the world history, even though contortion is one of the most ancient arts on the planet... So in our "art world" I always felt like the medieval and ancient themes are very important as the history seems to be written by the stiff 😜
Another mesmerizing piece of art, thank you and bravo.
Since you posted this, I've been employing the same stretch (albeit not so deep) to relieve the day's tension.
p.s. My muse is sitting on my back today, just got another idea: what if he twists his hipbone even further and his crotch presses directly between his own shoulder blades! After all these years, there seem to be no end to contortion ideas...
-TBJ
2021: "That looks incredibly satisfying"
The world is making progress 🤗