Original artwork description:

This egg tempera painting with gold leaf shows an interpretation of the legend of the Vision of Saint Eustace in a minimalist style.

The legend of Saint Eustace, a forerunner of the legend of Saint Hubert, describes how a Roman soldier sees a stag with a crucifix between its antlers while out hunting. The stag speaks to him in the voice of Christ and the soldier than converts to Christianity, taking the name Eustace. In this interpretation, the viewer is placed in the position of Saint Eustace, who is given a piercing look by the stag, who has had the crucifix and the voice of Christ imposed upon him. In my mind, the legend is problematic. To me, the stag represents the forces of nature and the pantheistic Roman religion, which invests every element of the natural world with divinity, which is here being replaced by the more human-centred Christianity and man's attempts to dominate nature.

The style is minimalist, in order to distil the essence of the legend and to intensify the sensations that it produces.

The paint was hand made by grinding dry pigments in egg yolk tempera and the stag and leaves were water gilded onto red bole. The support is an oak panel, prepared with white gesso. The techniques are medieval, matching the period of the story told in the painting and referencing the famous version of this story painted by the Italian artist, Pisanello, in the early fifteenth century.

The painting is signed and dated on the reverse and has a d-ring attached so that it is ready to hang.

Materials used:

Pigments in egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed oak panel

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