Themes

The Precious Stones: Amethyst (1900)

Mucha breaks the symmetry of his composition by foreshortening Amethyst's left arm as she lifts her hair with her hands, her left elbow pointing towards the viewer.

Mucha's preliminary sketch and correspondence show that he originally planned to depict the figure naked from the waist up but Champenois requested that her breasts be covered lest there be objections on moral grounds.