Begin with the bowler hat. It
doesn't have the ebullience
displayed by Astaire in his
rendition of that Irving Berlin
song but can be relied upon
to fill its allotted rôle with
some semblance of style. Re-
ceives an appropriate round
of applause.
Then come the
birds. Brought on early be-
cause they're flighty & might
take off at any moment. (Save
for that eagle in a stony pose
somewhere in the Pyrenees.)
The bit players follow — weight-
lifters, lions, fish, rocks floating
in space, dogs, lost jockeys, the
odd unicorn. Elsewhere invisible,
but here most definitely on show.
Now the cloud chorus steps for-
ward to take their bow, bringing
with them one of the many scenes
in which they appear. This one
repeated often, with different
colors & different media, usually
with a different name, La Joconde,
the happy one, the Mona Lisa.
Which is a hint of what's to follow.
Tension builds as we wait for the
muse. So many aspects & images
of her life depicted across so many
years & now awaiting her final
curtain call. Georgette, sine qua non.
