Renaissance Condottiere - Sculpture by Sarah Myers

Condottiere, Sarah Myers
Sculpture in stoneware

Condottiere, Sarah Myers
Contemporary sculpture

     This Renaissance warrior in an impressive helmet may look slightly familiar from a profile among the incredible drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci. My sculpture of some years ago, along with being created in the round, also differs from the Old Master's sketch in the height of the crested helm, which more closely resembles Spanish armour from fifty to a hundred years later. But the scowling, proud profile gazing from under the beaked visor bears a very close likeness, as do the fantastic animals which adorn the front of the burgonet and the breastplate.

     With these photographs I am revisiting a piece produced almost a decade ago. Some things I might do a little differently now, such as reducing the startling size of my signature. But I remain as intrigued by the Da Vinci design as ever, which indeed has been a source of excitement since I first found it in a child's book of Leonardo's art many years earlier still, where the drawing was printed in the small volume I looked at practically before I could read. And the sculpture itself is a solid presence that continues to fill its space admirably, I believe, and one that I remain pleased with as it stares out at me, gaze unchanging, from under the shade of its formidable helmet.  

  

Condottiere, Sarah Myers, detail in monochrome

Condottiere, Sarah Myers
Close-up.  Sculpture in stoneware.

Three Renaissance Hats - Drawings by Sarah Myers

Woman in Renaissance Plumes, Sarah Myers
Minimal charcoal on paper

    In my collection of minimal line drawings I found these three women with elaborate Renaissance headgear; hats of velvet and silk, laced with pearls and topped by plumes, clasped with a jeweled brooch, or set on top of abundant, flowing curls.

All of these drawings are in charcoal on paper and come from a long series of sketches in simple line.

Woman in Renaissance Turban, Sarah Myers
Minimal charcoal on paper

Woman with a Renaissance Hat, Sarah Myers
Minimal charcoal on paper

Dancer with Scarf - Sketch by Sarah Myers

Dancer with a Scarf, Sarah Myers
Charcoal, white charcoal, red conte and pencil on brown paper

    Here is a dancer with a scarf. The folds of her robe and the folds of her scarf ripple across the air in hurried curves as she sways to unheard music.

    This sketch was inspired by Renaissance or Mannerist art which shows dancers holding scarves or ribbons – images that were in their turn inspired by late Roman art. My vision grew more modern as I drew, lines scattering over the paper to portray the quick movement of body, cloth and expression.  

Drawing: Profile, Woman with Headdress

Profile, Woman with Headdress    S. Myers, Charcoal on Paper

Drawing, Head of a Woman

Head of a Woman, Allegorical Figure, S. Myers  Charcoal and Conte on Paper 2013

   This drawing is inspired by several early Botticelli paintings I sat looking at the night before last.

    It was so enjoyable to stare at the book, at those pictures, submerged in their vast world of renewed Spring; to turn the pencil loose and watch it dance over the paper, the sound of Pablo Casals' cello all the time being background - a recording played very softly so as not to wake sleepers in the house.