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DIALV2-ricketts-hair-ae

The small black and white woodcut is in portrait orientation and is centered on the page. The woodcut is enclosed in a small square frame with a dark border. The right foreground depicts an unclothed woman with long hair in a small room with a lantern set on the floor. The woman is facing forward, but her lower body is turned to the right. Her left arm is held upwards against her face and her right hand is positioned by her right hip. Only the woman’s bent left thigh is visible, as her long hair covers the rest of her lower body. Beneath her is a lantern radiating light. To the woman’s right is a wall bordered with various vines and flowers. To the left of the woman is an open window, through which a dark male figure wearing a head covering leans in and rests his arms on the sill. Beneath the sill are two small rectangular figurines and a ladle (?). He is facing the inside of the small room. Only his right profile is visible. Outside the small room behind the male figure appears to be a garden of vines (possibly grape) and a wine or apple press is in the distance. The artist’s initials “CR” are marked in caps in a dark rectangle with white letters in the bottom left corner of the woodcut. Centered above the woodcut, the text “I am come into my garden my sister my spouse O Beloved,” is set with letterpress and decorative fleurons. Below the woodcut on the bottom left is the title, “The Shebalite,” and the verse: “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night.” [from Song of Solomon in the Bible]. Below the woodcut on the bottom right “CHAP V” is printed.