Why did you feel the need to accompany your first religious themed word – Mary Magdalene – with that of Jesus?
Firstly I would like make clear that the mention of a great work not only refers to the size of the painting, but all that these two works have meant and have implied. They are the first two figurative paintings of great format, although I have had done various impressionist & abstract paintins of up to nine by three meters.
With regard to Mary Magdalene, which was painted for a church, and having achieved the result I was seeking, I could not resist the temptation of trying to do it again, this time with Jesus.
Nowadays it is rather strange to find an artist who work with sacred themes. What inspired you?
It was not inspiration. I have always liked challenges and work against the rules of the times. If you don’t have a challenge and an aim in your life, you are just not alive.
You previously mentioned to me that you have used the same parameters used by Greek artists for these two figurative works. What are those parameters?
Yes. That’s true. I’ve applied what is known as the "section aurea", also known as "De divina proportione", as well as the "golden number", this last a geometrical formula created by Euclides, and based upon schemes of proportiones considered by the Greek and Romans as the true proportions of beauty, because, for the Egyptians, beauty rimed with eternity.
Many artists of the Rennaissance, such as Leonard, Michaelangelo, Raphael, etc, and even later, Poussin or the sculptor Duquesnoy, of France, wanted to discover with these set proportions the mistery of beauty achieved by the Greek.
How would you describe the figure of Jesus? I see that his facial factions, just like those of Mary Magdalene, are rather soft, which is very different from which we are used to seeing them. They are closer to today’s faces.
I firmly believe that we must look at the great masters, but we are in the 21st century and I am unable to rennounce my way of painting, and therefore have tried to respect the biblical history, specially when it comes to clothing, but the faces are a reflection of today, just like in the past, the faces reflected the era in which they were painted.
What was the greatest challenge with these latest artworks of yours?
Without a doubt, the first challenge was the size of the canvas, and secondly, to try and reflect in my work the Italian Rennaissance.
You have made very clear that Mary Magdalena is situated in your birthplace, as she is also the patron of your village. But, with Jesus, we have him appearing from the desert after wandering for forty days and forty nights.
That’s right. Mary Magdalene was an order for a 13th century romanic church, while that of Jesus was a work which I imposed upon myself. And with regard to Jesus,as mentioned before I tried to be as faithful as possible to the Old Testament readings.