vdb stack009

Text :

"To hold up under my gaze has never been
an easy trial. I have made it my criterion in
painting: the lowered eyes of the Madonnas,
the clusive eyes of the goddesses, the
ostentatiously hardy eyes of the heroes,
rare are the eyes that can stare back at me
simply, serenely, from equal to equal. With
the Venus of Urbino, Titian made me that gift
And those who see nothing but coquetry in
these eyes know precious little of women,
by my owl's word."