Lillo Ciaola, Banana Dircè, Graphic Fine Art, 30x40 cm

Graphic artwork by Lillo Ciaola in brilliant colours.

Dircè is a mythological figure, wife of Lico.

The myth tells that one day Lico welcomed his niece Antiope, banished by her brother Nitteo, who was angry with her because she was pregnant.

From the first moment, her aunt Dirce treated her niece like a slave, mistreating her. At the house of Dirce, Antiope gave birth to twins Amphion and Zetus. However, the two children were sent away by their uncle, who did not know that his niece was pregnant. The children were found by a shepherd who raised them as his own. Because of her aunt's mistreatment, Antiope fled and, after many vicissitudes, arrived at the cave where her children lived. When they became adults, the children decided to avenge their mother and killed Lico and then atrociously punished Dirce by attaching her to a raging bull, which dragged her away and killed her.

The sculpture portrayed by Ciaola is based on that of the sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, who renders a more poetic and delicate image than the myth, in this case Dirce emerges from a banana.

The work is numbered 8/150 in the lower left-hand corner and is signed by hand in the lower right-hand corner.