Muscles Madonna laid bare

It is, says the artist, a tribute to Madonna's powerful personality.

But quite what the singer will make of seeing herself depicted as a muscular, sinewy, sultry reclining nude on a bed remains to be seen.

Painter Peter Howson admits he is apprehensive - not least because Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie is known to disapprove of his wife being portrayed naked.

"I think he'll probably come and hit me," the artist said yesterday. "But if he's a man of wisdom and integrity, he'll be quite pleased, I imagine."

The Scottish painter had hoped the star would be in the market for the canvas, entitled Madonna 2002 and priced at £100,000.

But she did not pose for the picture, neither did she consent to it and - if the artist's suspicions prove correct - she has not yet even seen it.

It was one of two Madonna nudes unveiled yesterday in Mr Howson's hometown of Ayr. The other, entitled Death and Madonna - which depicts the star squatting in a church graveyard - is priced at £120,000.

Mr Howson said he had earlier sent copies of the paintings to the singer so she would see them before they became public.

But her art consultant Darlene Lutz is understood to have reacted with horror and described him as a voyeur and self-publicist.

"I do not know Madonna's reaction because the pictures appear to have been withheld from her," said Mr Howson. "These two paintings are a tribute to Madonna and it was not my intention to criticise her, or make fun of her. I am disappointed in this reaction because I honestly believed that Miss Lutz would show the paintings to Madonna and that Madonna would be both flattered and pleased that I had done them."

The 44-year-old painter has been in touch with the singer since 1986 and has sold her several previous canvases - she has also posed for him, although not nude. He said he used his in-depth knowledge of human anatomy, his imagination and some photographs of Madonna naked as a basis for the paintings.

"I have seen Madonna in the nude," he announced proudly, before adding: "... in my imagination."

The artist, who also famously painted a naked portrait of comedienne Dawn French from his imagination, said he had planned the two portraits for ten years, but repeated requests for Madonna to pose for him were met with noncommittal replies.