The naked truth about life modelling
In the meantime, I survived on odd jobs, including a stint as a life model. 'Starts at ten,' said Piers, a friend who taught at a college in Kensington. Before my shift, I flipped through Ernst Gombrich's The Story of Art in case a life model was expected to know the classical poses by heart. I imagined Piers starting me off with an easy one: 'The Thinker' by Rodin, or 'Moses' by Michelangelo, or 'The Martyrdom of St Sebastian' by Mantegna. Or he might challenge my scholar-ship by calling for 'Laocoön and his Sons' by Agesander of Rhodes, which requires the model to wear a look of tragic startlement while wrestling with two deadly pythons. And I rehearsed the most celebrated pose of all, Leonardo's 'Vitruvian Man'. Standing upright, gazing intently at the mirror, I extended my arms on either side of me. Naturally, I tried various time-settings. Ten to two, quarter to three, and so on.
I arrived early and found Piers arranging the seats in a semi-circle. He nodded towards a utility cupboard which doubled as my changing room. Inside, amid boxes of crayons and paints, I removed all my clothes. I could hear the students gathering on the other side of the door. Piers knocked sharply twice. 'Ready.' I turned the handle and walked out stark naked into the studio.
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