7.1.10

Bernini's Elephant

Here is a sketch of Bernini's sculpture in front of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome:

The sketch is done in gouache and stands about 5" high. The sculpture made a great impression on me when we were in Rome a couple of years ago. It stands alone in the square before the church in which Saint Catherine's body is interred, supporting an Egyptian obelisk capped with an ornamental cross. It strikes me as quintessentially Catholic, ever ancient and ever new.

As a bonus, here is an ant that I recently drew.

The unfortunate ant had found her way into my kitchen, which was for her a trackless desert.


7 comments:

Sophie said...

Just a sketch?!!!!!

The ant is beautifully rendered.

Ben Hatke said...

Wow, dude, that ant is super impressive!

Anonymous said...

Sophie, I thought the same thing! Sketch?!? Heck, that'sa beautiful rendered painting...

Herreid said...

Very cool!

Unknown said...

Hi, Michael,
Knowing you - I am tickled at the reactions to your VERY UNDERSTATED description of your ant "sketch"! You are awesome and an inspiration. Thank you for who you are.

omar said...

I love this ant!

J.R.Howley said...

Very nice work.