MASTERPIECE #3131

/// Here is Brigida Spinola-Doria,
a new bride in a state of euphoria.
The lovely Marchesa,
(via Rubens), displays a
satin gown that’s a phantasmagoria.

/// When Brigida Spinola wed him,
she refused her own last name to trim.
She’s now Doria, too,
like her husband’s kin, who
died at sea. (Andrea couldn’t swim.)

/// Young Brigida stands dauntless and proud,
though it’s clear she is not “well-endowed.”
She thinks, ”I’m statuesque;
‘Rubenesque’ is grotesque.
I’m more fit than that pendulous crowd!”

/// Unlike many girls painted by him,
this Marchesa appears to be slim.
Her svelte hands, wrists and arms
all imply that her charms
may be trim from some time at the gym.

/// No, Brigida was not Rubens’ “type.”
He preferred women zaftig and ripe.
Tastes have changed, over time.
In this health-conscious clime
fleshy girls rarely get a right swipe.

/// The elaborate ruff that she’s in
fills the space between shoulder and chin.
Stiffened lace in profusion
helps create the illusion
of a cygnet’s neck, too long and thin.

/// Though her dress has an armor-like sheen,
she has chosen in satin to preen.
It’s not made out of foil
and not glistening from oil.
(The Marchesa is no tinned sardine.)

/// This Marchesa who stands here with ease
is Italian, in fact, Genovese.
Artist Rubens, who’s Flemish,
paints her pale with no blemish.
(Were she Flemish, she’d be a “Marquise.”)