(Venetian Blonde - Two Hours Later) In shadows where the empty promise dies, truth echoes in the silence of the hall: nocturnal boots won't march to beauty’s call. With Marchesa, his informant lies. Though the master baits a trap, no rival tries to climb to where her fresh-dyed tresses fall. He leaves his bride a prisoner to his wall, nowhere to go. They’ll box up her disguise, but our proud-chested heroine won't rest: because her loyal maids of honor keep a silent King to rule her lonely...

Titian - Venus of Urbino On linens sun-dried white, in soft repose, with strawberry-gold braids and ivory skin, she shows off all the work that’s been put in and turns her head to better frame the nose. Tiene con noncuranza un mazzo di rose (her servants fetch a vase to put them in, and a dress, lest her betrothed come in and find his Nyssia too long exposed). Her costume, the High Renaissance ideal, is his, not hers. Though this she does not speak, the women in their hastiness reveal the bed...

Modigliani’s Nu couché (Reclining Nude) Préférez-vous les Odalisques d’Henri Matisse or Venus, or Louis Fratino's dudes? My go-tos are Modigliani's nudes whose show was shut down by the French police. The red one - IMO, his masterpiece, speaks through her pose: "come close - I'm in the mood." Her directness is empowering, not crude, just pure and honest, without artifice. She lived in Midtown but has since moved far, where I'd be black bagged if I tried to go because I tagged some of their...