Madonna, 1894-5 Oil on canvas 90.5 x 70.5 cm
"The pause during which the entire world halts in its
orbit. Your face embodies all the beauty of the world.
Your lips, as crimson as a ripe fruit, are half open as
if to express pain. A corpse's smile. Here life and
death shake hands. The chain that links thousands of
past generations to the thousands to come has been
meshed." (E. M.)