Fauna and Nymphs

Five or six white figures — nymphs and fauns — run and tumble through a dense landscape of green, teal, black, and dark red. The figures are painted in opaque white and pale pink gouache, their limbs elongated and gestural, set against a background of loose, wet washes of green and blue with curling plant forms. The composition has the quality of a fresco sketch — rapid, allover, with the figures scattered across the surface. The palette is dominated by the deep green-teal of the foliage, with the white figures floating against it. Like the Trois nymphes, this draws on the classical pastoral tradition, but the handling is looser and more spontaneous.