Imperfections are the essence of a body. Even a master like Rubens desired to depict his wife Helena in her natural form, with all of her folds and roundness of the flesh.
She is sheepishly hiding her body as she stares at us, lost in countless of unknown thoughts. She cradles the fur in a comforting hug, heedless of the exposed breast from which the small nipples protrude. She is well aware that she is being watched by millions of people, both calculating and intrigued. Her expression shows the anxiety and ecstasy of being caught in a passionate desire, in unfamiliar arms, warm and strong…at the same time she is begging mercy, she wishes surrender coming back behind the canvas where the world fades.
Het Pelsken (literally The Fur or The Pelt) is a 1638 portrait by Peter Paul Rubens – Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Rubens aimed to demonstrate to the masses the essence of femininity, nothing voluptuous or seductive. This figure is shown in all of its intensity, poised on a scarlet fabric where the earth groans beneath the weight of nature reborn.
A white clean fabric is encircling her bare body like a delicate gent caress around her hips beneath that black fur. Is she really encouraging any of you to violate her loyalty in front of her spouse by doing so? Once in Vienna, embrace this painting and listen to its metaphysical speech; you will be dragged into her realm, where you may see the two’s genuine secret love.
We don’t need… Fontana’s sliced paintings or Pollock’s deep-diving into/on and beyond the canvas, the colors… to sense separation from the picture’s stillness – immobility. We can feel Helena’s presence, her puckish-sweet memory, just by looking into her eyes.
“Venus in Furs has caught his soul in the red snares of hair. He will paint her, and go mad.” L.S.M.
Palmieri’s Diary 