It is true that admiration becomes refined through imitation. I mean that once a person tries something for himself, he gains a better understanding of the accomplishments of another. In truth, I was not particularly interested in portraiture before I came to Italy. And in the case of the famous artist Rembrandt, I tend to like his etchings more than his paintings. I liked the light in some Rembrandts, but sometimes the scratchy-like texture in the paint does not appeal to me.
But for all of the famous paintings of San Paolo that I researched for this street painting competition in Nocera Superiore, Italy, recently, I found myself drawn to Rembrant’s “Saint Paul at his Writing Desk.” Our group’s organizer, Claudio, asked me to add bars in a window to signify that my drawing depicts St. Paul’s second time in prison. (The Florence group of madonnari [street painters] wanted 19 images in a time-line depicting specific events in Paul’s life.)
I was tired when I arrived in Nocera Superiore, but we had to draw most of the night in order to finish our street paintings by noon the next day. At first I worried that Saint Paul’s head was too small to make an impact, in the stilo di madonnari, but I am glad that I chose not to enlarge the entire composition.
While I see many things that I would have liked to do differently, I was very happy with my work. In fact, I am thinking that I would enjoy creating an oil painting of this same Rembrandt.
I leave you today with a few images of how we madonnari spent our early morning and afternoon of the street painting competition in this small Italian town. No, we are not bums . . .
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