Neptuned

Merci, Monique! :)

And how delighted am I to receive this beauty by post! I am initially struck by the flowing current-like patterns in the B&W background.... enchanting. When I see Poseidon so clearly lording over his realm in the corner, the architectural elements up top become a partial ceiling over his palace deep under the sea. The folds beneath the blonde nymph are artfully suggestive of a mermaid. But what to make of the surreal female swimmer framed by the arch? On the small postcard I could not see that her mask is turned sideways, partially obscuring her face, so instead I misperceived her face as that of a skull. Whoever she is, whatever she means by that gesture with her hand, she seems somehow archetypal and rather dark—not merely a human visitor to this sacred site.