Mr Faun

This laddy is a mixed media painting of my Prince as a treetop nestled tryllefløyte (magic flute) playing faun.

In Roman mythology, fauns are half~man, half~goat incarnations of forest and animal spirits, with little horns, pointed ears, hooves and a tail. They are depicted as mischievous and fond of dance and music, and capable of guiding or guiding astray men who stumble into the wilderness. Fauns are comparable to the Greek god Pan and his satyrs, and the cheeky woodland sprite Puck from English folklore.

Spellbinding tales starring faun characters include C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia (Mr Tumnus), Mexican film~maker Guillermo del Toro's bewitching fantasy Pan's Labyrinth, and Russian ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky's sensual L'après-midi d'un faune. Inspired by the poem of the same name by French poet and critic Stéphane Mallarmé, it was originally created for the Ballets Russes. Below, Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev will perform L'après-midi d'un faune for you...

The ballet's score, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, was written by French composer Claude Debussy. Debussy said of his music ~

"The music of this prelude is a very free illustration of Mallarmé's beautiful poem. By no means does it claim to be a synthesis of it. Rather there is a succession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flight of nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finally realize his dreams of possession in universal Nature."

Merriest spirit entwined in the branches of my darling forest faun