The Rehearsal (La Répétition)

Dionysian dynamism and Apollonian order coexist in Picasso’s print. At the left, a bearded, satyr-like male figure strikes an upraised tambourine, while his wildhaired female counterpart performs a masquerade. The naked pair dance upon an illuminated stage, as a young girl and grandmother look up from the surrounding darkness. At the right, three curvaceous nudes, drawn in profile, front and back views, look on serenely. They are the classical Three Graces. The first holds a vessel (beauty), the second a tambourine (mirth) and the third simply smiles (good cheer). Behind them, a male figure wearing a shepherd’s hat plays a hornpipe. His striped shirt almost certainly identifies him as Picasso, who presides over the Apollonian assembly while providing musical accompaniment for the Dionysian dance of life.