Susanna e i vecchioni / / Peter Paul Rubens

The woman sits in the middle of the dark forest and waits. She clutches the silky white sheet wrapped around her body and tries desperately to quiet her breathing so her pursuers cannot find her in the shadows. Her hair is all undone, soft and fair. Her presence is like an innocent light that feebly tries to combat the darkness looming all around her. She waits for what seems like an eternity. Finally, she lets a sigh escape her. Within seconds her two male followers creep up behind her and lunge at her, one with his finger pressed menacingly to his lips, the other one’s black hair and beard amplifying the sinister mask of the black night sky. She is taken by surprise, her eyebrows raised in alarm as the men rush to her, the blanket coming loose and exposing all of her soft beautiful skin. Her face becomes flushed as she raises her arm to protect herself; she will have to put up a fight. Terror washes over her voluptuous body as she disappears into the blackened trees.

Commodus as Hercules

The man's perfectly curled ringlets, both on top of his head and on his dignified chin, are carefully carved into the smooth white marble. His face is calm, cool and collected even though he has just committed a feat of extreme bravery in the face of danger. The mouth of a ferocious lion, with teeth exposed and one fierce fang on either side, sits casually on top of the man's head, giving the illusion that the man's face is appearing in the middle of the lion's gaping mouth. Draped over his shoulders and tied around him like a sweater, the lion's defeated paws hang limply like a mocking trophy over the man’s chiseled chest. His right hand is beautiful and delicate although the weapon it holds is forceful and threatening. His weapon of choice is a club that probably knocked the sad beast out with a single blow. His power is in his stillness, his face and torso as cool as the marble from which it was created.