My concentration uses chiaroscuro, a method so widely used by Caravaggio, it has been known to be practically his signature. Each piece represents a month in the year. The fruit in which each figure interacts with is in season during that month. The fruit is also an indicator, in conjunction with each background, to allude to what each mythological figure is. For example, Pandora, number three, looks very forlorn out into the distance. Her eyes are full of fear over the terror which she has unleashed indicated by the unlocked box in her hands. The myth of Pandora's Box is similar to the story of Adam and Eve, but the grapefruit on top of her box is a symbol of hope while the apple is a symbol of original sin. Pandora comes in at number three with a grapefruit since they are in season in March. Darkness surrounds Pandora which represents the evils of the world. The closed, unlocked box in her hands bestows a grapefruits on top. According to myth, the only thing left after the box was opened was hope, and that is what the grapefruit represents. While the focal point is Pandora’s face, the grapefruit is undoubtedly the brightest and most colorful object in the piece. This creates a less human Pandora, and makes the audience focus on what was truly intended—the message of hope. 

                 Pandora, number three, looks very forlorn out in the distance. Her eyes are full of fear over the terror which she has unleashed indicated by the unlocked box in her hands. The myth of Pandora's Box is similar to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The grapefruit on top of her box is a symbol of evil just as the apple is a symbol of original sin. The grapefruit in countries such as Barbados and Jamaica are known as the "forbidden fruit". Pandora comes in at number three with a grapefruit since grapefruits are in season in March, and March is the third month. The surrounding darkness of Pandora, almost encapsulating her, communicates the idea of darkness, while the message lies in the fruit, a symbol of evil, coincidentally the brightest object in the piece.

                Ares, god of war, looks on at his hands in anger. The raspberries, symbols of the blood of mythical creatures, washes over his hands and face. At number seven, Ares is a symbol of masculinity and war. His extreme facial expression harkens to Caravaggio works such a Medusa and Judith and Holofernes. As raspberries are in season during July, the seventh month, this is why Ares is number seven in the concentration. Behind him looms Mars and a blood moon, a prophetic symbol of the apocalypse. I chose these symbols because War is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

                Hera, number two, is portrayed as a man. Hera is the goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth, the pinnacle of what it meant to be a woman in Ancient Greece. Looking delicately in the open space, Hera is surrounded by his best known symbol, Peacock feathers with pear seeds in his beard. Pears are sacred to Hera. The story behind the piece is self-evident as the goddess of women, is a man. The decision to recreate the goddess of women as a man presents interesting ideas about gender and gender politics. Such as, what does is truly mean to be a woman? A man? What does the god of women look like? God of man?