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THE BLOSSOMING OF THE MIDDLE AGES (VILLARD'S WORLD)
Triptych. Oil on canvas, 70 x 30 inches, 2011
(Private collection, Orlando, Florida)
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The Blossoming of the Middle Ages (a paraphrase of the famous book by Johan Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages, was created for a friend, a professor of humanities at Valencia College in Orlando. Since his doctorate dealt with medieval technology, and one of his favorite subjects was Villard de Honnecourt, the canvas is saturated with allusions to Villard and to Middle Ages in general. However, in addition to this, the painting includes my renderings of the Temptation of St. Anthony (on the left) and of St. Francis with Animals (on the right). For the monsters surrounding St. Anthony I used my imagination, but added a few creatures from Villard's Sketchbook: a griffin, a fly, a lobster, and a snail. For St. Francis, I included mostly real animals (with the exception of two wacky birds and a strange antelope-like ruminant. The other creatures were selected for their unusual appearance, their uniqueness, or their compositional flexibility. The major feature of the group is the purple dragon petted by the saint. In the center of the painting, at the bottom, we see the owner of the painting in red robes, sitting on a barrel filled with his home brew, Dragon Ale, and guarded by his favorite dog, Luke. In front of him are books related to Villard -- Portfolio, Le 'probleme' Villard, and Architector. In the hands of the owner is a book with my signature and date, as well as Villard's initials and some imaginary design. The stone masons working on the wall are inspired by medieval manuscripts as are all the carpenters with a hoist building a bridge from the monastery to the cathedral. It is important to notice on the facade of the cathedral gothic figures in the portal, the figures of kings and saints, the images of 'green men' above the doors, the labirynth on the wall, and various details present in many real gothic cathedrals. The monastery is romanesque and features a small garden attended by monks but based on the garden of the owner of the painting. A tiny figure of a flying monk alludes to the legend of Elmer of Malmesbury who, in 1010, supposedly made a pair of wings and flew from the Abbey's tower. More workers are shown building a small model of a church on the left. Bridges, windmills, water mills, a medieval gusli player and a burger discussing something with a lady in blue complete the story. Of course, many slopes of this imaginary town have faces hewn out of stone, one of my trademarks and favorite things to paint. To show a few of my "inspirations," I include the photos of George, my friend, Luke, his dog, and the green gargoyle from one of the French cathedrals (pictures 17, 20,and 23).
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