Polyphemus spying on Acis and Galatea - Poussin

The scene itself, the embrace of Acis and Galatea in the left background, is outshone by the depiction of Polyphemus, on the right, spying on the lovers from behind the rocks. This disproportion is characteristic of the Mannerist style. The rock is the screen of the scenic device: it delimits and even envelops the restricted space of the stage left, as marked by its curved shape. This protective, circumscribing function is contrasted with another, communicative one: the rock connects the left and right sides of the design. Between the spy and the spied, it establishes a cut: it's the semiotic cut between the signifier on the right, the Cyclops' eye and speech, and the signified on the left, what is seen; it's also the cut of symbolic castration, through which Polyphemus' desire is signified. The screen's communicative function manifests itself in this cut: it's a discontinuous function, whereas its protective function is a continuous one.