​'OfOrphic Personation'.
Oil on canvas, 37 x 2.5 inches (94 x 70 cms).

How to talk about a painting without saying anything at all Part 20. 'Of Orphic Personation'.

Orphic: having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding. Mysterious, mystic, mystical, occult, secret, esoteric.

Personation: the act of falsely assuming the identity, character, or appearance of another person.
Impersonation, portrayal, enactment, characterization.

The final element of the triptych is completed through the act of naming. As may be observed, the titles of the three paintings share a deliberate structural and thematic continuity. In each case, the second term, following the recurring preposition “Of” (“Delphic,” “Sibylline,” and “Orphic”), draws upon traditions of ancient Greek mysticism, prophecy, and divine revelation. These terms reference interconnected strands within the study of ancient Greek religion, particularly its oracular practices and esoteric belief systems, all of which engage with the notion of concealed or sacred knowledge.

The concluding term of each title, ("Persona,” “Personification,” and “Personation”), derives from the Latin persona, meaning mask. These closely related concepts concern the articulation or embodiment of identity, whether through the attribution of human qualities to abstract ideas or through the assumption of roles and performed selves. Collectively, they evoke a productive ambiguity between authenticity and artifice, subject and representation.

Taken together, the titles establish a conceptual dialogue between Greek traditions of hidden revelation and Latin-inflected notions of performed identity. While they share common etymological and philosophical ground, each introduces a subtle variation in emphasis, reinforcing both the unity and the internal differentiation of the triptych.

'Of Unspecified Constitution.
Oil on canvas, 27.5 x 20.5 inches (70  x 52cms). 

'Of Sibylline  Personification'.
Oil on canvas, 37 x 2.5 inches (94 x 70 cms).