Finished: Reposition Of The Virgin

Well it's all done (as done as a painting can be). 'Reposition of the Virgin' oil and gold leaf on birch, 6' x 4.' This painting draws from a number of sources, most notably the 'Birth of Venus' by Sandro Botticelli on the back wall. I sought to create parallels between aphrodite/venus, the Virgin Mary and Wisdom/Sophia. There is a lightly written poem about Sophia on the back wall that is difficult to see in a photograph. Of course Mary is cast in the role of Jesus in this picture, taking the classic pose of the deposition, that is, when one is taken down from the cross, held by unseen hands, and post agony. The scraped face of modest Venus looks on passively from the background.