Cupid and the Half-and-Half Pen and ink, 6.25 x 10 inches, 2000 Collection of Gayle and James Wohlken I came across an odd painting by Pontormo in which a rather masculine reclining Venus was receiving a little snuggle from Cupid. Suddenly, the very composition I needed for my sideshow half-and-half swam before my eyes! The half-and-half was an attraction often featured as the “blow off” — an additional exhibition at the back of the tent on view for an extra charge. On very rare occasions the half-and-half was a genuine hermaphrodite, but more often this was a female impersonator dressed improbably as a man on one side and a woman on the other. If the show was playing “strong” the menfolk might be invited to line-up for an up-close view of half-and-half anatomy — for a price, of course. I decided my half-and-half should recline sprawled out in all their ambiguous splendor, replacing the allegorical props of the original painting with a traveling trunk for the performer's custom wardrobe. All Images and Text © James G. Mundie 2003 - 2018