Oooh, the hot room could explain it, yes! Maybe even the first tinged with a bit of the second, blood was boiling after all.

And, yes, the poses are very… specific, dunno how else to put it, they’re the kind of almost fetishistic fixations with small and specific details, like seeing someone’s skin in intermittent shadow, feeling a certain type of fabric on one’s cheek, gives the impression that we’re also getting something intimate from the artist! These poses caught the eye in a very personal way, I feel! Or maybe I’m just projecting:))

Thank you so much for replying, you’ve just expanded the painting’s context immensely! Love it even more now!