 |
| Eline Mugaas Untitled 1999 C-print Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø |
 |
| Gustaf Magnusson By the Water 1943 oil on board Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm |
 |
| Henrik Sørensen Bathers, Holmsbu ca. 1914-15 oil on canvas Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Norway |
-Dresden.jpg) |
| Oskar Zwintscher Encounter 1915 oil on canvas Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden |
 |
| Anders Zorn My Models 1916 etching Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm |
-Dresden.jpg) |
| Karl Hofer Women by the Sea 1908 oil on canvas Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden |
-Dresden.jpg) |
| Ludwig von Hofmann Landscape with Bathers ca. 1915-20 oil on canvas Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden |
 |
| Johan Axel Gustav Acke Salt, Wind and Sea 1906 oil on canvas private collection |
 |
| Karl Hubbuch The Swimmer of Cologne 1924-25 lithograph Kunsthalle Mannheim |
 |
| David Hockney Sunbather 1966 acrylic on canvas Museum Ludwig, Cologne |
-Bergen-Norway.jpg) |
| Edvard Munch Boys Bathing ca. 1904-1905 oil on canvas KODE (Art Museums Complex), Bergen, Norway |
 |
| Edvard Munch High Summer 1915 oil on canvas Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo |
 |
| Francis Picabia Four Figures and a Fish ca. 1927-32 watercolor on paper Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
-1896-lithograph-(poster)-Kunstbibliothek-Staatliche-Museen-zu-Berlin.jpg) |
| Leo Prochovnik Neuland - Monatsschrift (magazine) 1896 lithograph (poster) Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
-The-Cone-of-Light-1963-tempera-on-paper-Moderna-Museet-Stockholm.jpeg) |
| Christer von Rosen Ready to Swim in the Garage: The Cone of Light 1963 tempera on paper Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
-1983-oil-on-canvas-Moderna-Museet-Stockholm.jpeg) |
| Philip von Schantz Esox Lucius (Northern Pike) 1983 oil on canvas Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
"How Thisbe came to be in the cave, and who killed her here, we may never know, unless some god reveals the answers to us. But perhaps we should take a close look at the writing tablet that we found in her bosom. It probably has something further to tell us."
They agreed that they should. Knemon opened the tablet* and began to read. This is what was written there.
To Knemon, my lord and master, from your enemy and benefactress, Thisbe. First I have some good news for you: Demainete is dead. It was I who brought this about, out of love for you. How it happened I shall tell you face-to-face if you will agree to see me. Next I bring you the news that I have been on this island for ten days now, the captive of one of the bandits who live here: he boasts that he is their captain's right-hand man. He is keeping me under lock and key and does not allow me even to put my head outside the door, claiming that he has incarcerated me like this because he loves me, though in my estimation he is afraid that someone might take me away from him. But by the grace of some god I saw you walk past, my lord, and I recognized you. I am sending you this tablet secretly, by way of the old woman who shares my dwelling. She has instructions to deliver it into the hand of the captain's handsome Greek friend. Deliver me from the clutches of these brigands! Do not abandon your servant! Help me, please; for the wrongs I appear to have done I was compelled to do, but the revenge I took on your enemy I took voluntarily. But if you are too full of anger to heed my prayers, then vent your hatred on me however you please. My one wish is to be yours, even if it means my death. Better to die at your hands and be buried like a Greek, than to endure a life worse than death and suffer the torment of a savage's love, which causes me, as an Athenian, more pain than any hatred.
* a writing tablet consisted of two pieces of wood coated with wax and hinged together so that they could be closed to protect the inscribed wax
– Heliodorus, from The Aethiopica, or, Theagenes and Charikleia (3rd or 4th century AD), translated from Greek by J.R. Morgan (1989)