Jean-Léon Gérôme, French
“Thanks For Helping Attach That Cape. That’s My Latest Superhero Sculpture. As You Can See, She Has a Secret Identity — But I Don’t Know Whether To Call Her ‘Baredevil’ or ‘The Flash(er),'” 1886
Oil on canvas
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Info about this artist can be found at an earlier blog entry.
/// In this painting, “The End of the Session,”
her clay likeness has made an impression.
So that moisture stayed trapped,
with damp cloths it was wrapped.
We cannot see the statue’s expression.
/// As the model uncovers the clay,
she makes sure that her face turns away.
With her features concealed,
it will not be revealed
just whose body is on full display.
/// It is not that her face wasn’t cute.
She feared unwelcome macho pursuit.
If her face had been shown
All who saw would have known
that she modeled in her birthday suit.
/// She believes she has taken great care
so that viewers will not be aware
of her face or her name,
but she learned, to her shame,
men I.D. her from her derrière.
/// She had known she was right in her gut—
that the case here was “open and shut.”
And so what is that case?
She’s not called “butter face,”
if her viewers must all face her butt.
// “When we make love,” her cruel lover said,
“Wear this Butterface Bag on your head.”
Yet, the girl didn’t mind
since she wasn’t inclined
to view ANY of him nude in bed.
/// It turned out to have been indiscreet
not to keep her toenails clean and neat.
On the street, men she’d meet
turned to stare at her seat,
but Gérôme seems to be into feet.