Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Portrait of a boy-Roman,2nd century- a study




























I made a small study of 'Portrait of a boy'( Roman, 2nd century, at the Metropolitan Museum  here). A teenage boy, a freed slave called Eutyches, which in Greek means the one with good luck, a happy man.(was he?)

 It is interesting how one can detect elements of both the naturalistic tradition (the subtle transitions of tone on the face, a flowing brushstroke here and there) and Byzantine stylization (the frontal pose with a slight turn of the head, the almost geometric layering of shadows on the neck, the outline, the thin crosshatching)

Considering these portraits were painted after death it is endearingly alive. Painting it was like stretching my hand through the centuries and touching his face.

Hugs-

6 comments:

Unknown said...

i like this one very much.
xxa

lisa solomon said...

i like that idea... stretching your hand thru time....

claire said...

fabulous painting :)

renilde said...

what i like about your studies is that it are really studies and not just copies, beautiful and interesting, x

Taryn Day said...

It was painted after death? How sad- I had already felt attached to this boy by looking at the original and your beautiful and warm copy.

Kim Baise said...

he is a 'lucky boy' to come back to life in your painting.
wonderful!