I found this image in a German art magazine and was captured by the movement in it. The narrative is about a saint on a journey. Sitting here in the studio, a year into the pandemic, I realise that the idea of travelling has become so alien to me. Ironic, considering that Christopher is the patron saint of travellers. I made a promise to myself to go and find this Patinir painting in the flesh when all this Covid is over.
What’s happening in the painting is just as interesting. Patinir’s treatment of the clouds and the faraway landscape is brilliant. I abstracted some of the cloud elements in this piece and transferred them to a painting. I am working on at the moment, as you can see in the video.
Christopher’s red cloak works by creating a very defined foreground, maybe because red meets the eye quicker? As you move through the painting, the cooler colours draw you further afield using colour as a perspective tool.
There is so much about this painting that I like.
Landscape with Saint Christopher, c. 1520, oil on panel, 125 cm × 170 cm (49.2 × 66.9 in), El Escorial, Monasterio de San Lorenzo, Spain
