Pregnant Woman, 1948

The “Pregnant Woman” portrays the sculptor Buba Lymberaki, now the artist’s wife, carrying his son. She is seated in a setting without depth, defined by planes parallel to the painted surface. These are characteristic of classical art. The pregnant woman is dressed in an austere black robe with violet tones. In her right hand she is holding an apple, a symbol of fertility, while her left hand rests on her womb in a protective gesture, emphasising the late state of her pregnancy. Her eye, hypnotized, focuses on infinity as if contemplating the mystery of the life she is carrying. The way the floor has been rendered, the geometrical arrangement of the background – in which vertical lines prevail –, the unadorned geometrical articulation of the figure, economy in the colour composition, all these traits make this a classical painting. Never ceasing to be the full-body portrait of an individual, indeed a loved one, the Pregnant Woman becomes a timeless symbol of fertility. Also one of the markings of classical art, another admirable quality of Moralis’ art is the artist’s emotional distance from his subject, even though it is one of great intimacy.