Estetiche, estatiche, ero(t)iche. Mezzibusti veneziani tra Sacro e Profano

Two different paintings, one copied from the other more than a century later, show the same composition. The subject is unespectedly different. One is a sacred allegory, the other a profane heroine. Both these paintings, however, represent a wider tradition of depictions of a woman in the same pose: from time to time a saint, a heroine, an allegory. The contrast between Sacred and Profane is only apparent, because the real subject is hidden between ecstasy and aesthetics: a possible way to eternity