Sunday, December 16, 2007

New Papal Portrait


Russian artist Natalia Tsarkova presented the Holy Father with a full length portrait of himself during one of the rare private audiences granted by the Pope last Wednesday.
The portrait is 6-foot by 4-foot and shows the Pope wearing a gold mitre and rich red vestments, seated on the throne of Leo XIII, the throne of the Second Vatican Council.
She has previously painted several portraits of Pope John Paul II.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is the little street urchin doing kneeling in front of the pope in the potrait. I'm not sure if (s)he is incensing him, it looks like that but i cant make out a thurible! Very peculiar. can anyone explain the symbolism?

Terry Nelson said...

She is an incredible painter - I love her work.

Anonymous said...

Presumably the 'little street urchin' is the artist, giving the portrait some finishing touches.

Anonymous said...

And I was fortunate enough to have a private showing of the portait in October. It's quite stunning!

Terry Nelson said...

This is funny - I linked to your post and identified the artist by saying she was incensing the portrait rather that putting finishing touches on it. (A commenter kindly pointed out my mistake.) Goes to show you the power of suggestion after I read the 1st comment on your post. I corrected my entry.

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