The grotesque was the defining decorative motif of Elizabethan England: a fantastical composition of scrolling foliage, mythical creatures, and classical ornament that arrived from Italy and was taken up with great enthusiasm by the painter-stainers of the sixteenth century. This dragon, spewing leaves and coiling through its frame, is drawn from a rare surviving wall painting of that tradition.
I painted it in chalk paint over a deliberately crusty whitewashed surface, using the same logic as the original painters: lamp black pigment, applied with confidence, distressed back to reveal the layers beneath. The surface has the dead-matte, chalky quality of a wall that has been painted, repainted, and worn back over centuries. That is not an accident. It is the point.
This is a small piece with a lot of history in it. At 31 x 31cm it works as a standalone object on a shelf or ledge, or grouped with other Elizabethan Collection panels. It does not need a frame and does not want one.
Dimensions: 31 x 31 x 3cm. Signed on the reverse.
The grotesque was the defining decorative motif of Elizabethan England: a fantastical composition of scrolling foliage, mythical creatures, and classical ornament that arrived from Italy and was taken up with great enthusiasm by the painter-stainers of the sixteenth century. This dragon, spewing leaves and coiling through its frame, is drawn from a rare surviving wall painting of that tradition.
I painted it in chalk paint over a deliberately crusty whitewashed surface, using the same logic as the original painters: lamp black pigment, applied with confidence, distressed back to reveal the layers beneath. The surface has the dead-matte, chalky quality of a wall that has been painted, repainted, and worn back over centuries. That is not an accident. It is the point.
This is a small piece with a lot of history in it. At 31 x 31cm it works as a standalone object on a shelf or ledge, or grouped with other Elizabethan Collection panels. It does not need a frame and does not want one.
Dimensions: 31 x 31 x 3cm. Signed on the reverse.
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