As part of the academic program four different casts are painted.  What is a cast?  It is a copy, usually, of a masterpiece made by a master artists.  The cast is made in plaster of Paris and is a matt, white sculpture making it ideal for the study of forms in monochrome.  As I write I find each word needs explaining.  Monochrome?  One usually thinks of black and white but for the purpose of oil painting, black and white are not used as the result would be a painting that looked blue.   And why is that?  Because black is a member of the blue family. 

In making this painted study, we learn how to mix and use a very limited palette of colours to make a painting that looks exactly like a three dimensional sculpture.  And that painted sculpture looks white with shadows and nuances of light.  There will be a Journal on limited palettes soon. 

This Cast was my final one of four. It is complex and large made from the original by Michelangelo.  Do note the similarity of the beautiful face to his famous statue of ‘David’ which is housed in  Galleria dell’Accademia, with a reproduction in front of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.  Giuliano was a member of the ruling Medici family, was joint ruler of Florence with his brother Lorenzo and was murdered in Florence Cathedral on Easter Sunday in 1516.  That is certainly a very brief synopsis but to see the 1.68 metre seated, original visit Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo, Florence – a place of great splendour and interest –  go early!

Oil on linen  2012  94 x 69cm   37 x 27in  in a splendid,  bespoke Florentine frame