Sarah Miska, Equestrian Boot, 2021.

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While still recognizably his aesthetic, After the Duel marks a nearly complete departure from Antonio Mancini’s usual mode.

Instead of a nuanced image of poverty, the 1872 painting focuses on a heightened, theatrical moment in the life of a wealthy child.

A white shirt smeared with bloody hand-prints drapes over a chair, a sword cutting across the composition from beneath it.

Meanwhile, the shadow of a man leans towards the frightened subject as the latter averts his gaze.

The narrative isn’t perfectly clear. Perhaps the unseen man is the child’s father, injured in the titular duel? Perhaps, instead, he’s some third party, come to explain the fatal result to a now fatherless son?

req'd by @doilydestroyer

burn that bridge baybeeee

The Long-Tongued Old Lady Licks and Purifies the Severed Head of Emon-no-Suke Takeda, from Tales of a Castle Keep

Thomas Hanisch Fall 2026 Backstage • Berlin

Photo credit: Dominik Odenkirchen | Courtesy of Berlin Fashion Week