XXVIII/3 This picture, itself divided and split, brings together recapitulated themes from my past work. The Berlin Wall (already hinted at in Canto XVII/1) was the subject of two paintings done in 1973 (Berlin Wall with German Grass and Skies cf. Works/Texts pp. 186-9) and stands here for the divided city to make a parallel with the city of Florence seen in the upper inset panel. The view of mediaeval Florence is taken from a contemporary representation of the city; it is divided into two by a broken version of the emblematic lily itself segmented into black and white areas with the city's image further divided by a blue and white cross. The image thus conflates the divisions and subdivisions of Guelph and Ghibelline that sundered the city's peace throughout the Middle Ages. Black and White divisions are taken up in another guise via the recapitulation of a similar theme which occurs in a series of paintings made for an exhibition in South Africa in 1974/1975, most of which went under the title The Skin Game. In the upper section of the picture various fragments of white skin are transcribed (from postcards, as in the fragments of the Berlin Wall). The South African reference harks back to Canto VII/1 which also alludes to the repellent apartheid system. The lower section reproduces various squares of black skin (also transcribed from postcards bought in South Africa). The fragmented -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.