Parthenon

Artist: Ricardo Moraga

Title: «Partenón»

Year: 2019

Media: oil on canvas

Edition: unique piece

Size: 130 x 195 cm

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This work is the result of the artist’s admiration for the works of the great sculptors of classical Greece such as Phidias, Lysippus, Praxiteles or Myron, to name a few. As an example, Ricardo Moraga has dedicated works to the Venus de Milo or the Victory of Samothrace.

In this case, the work shows various sculptures from the sculptural ensemble of the pediment of the Parthenon in Athens, by Phidias.

Sculptures of the Parthenon in Athens by Phidias

The extreme detail with which the artist has painted the characters’ clothing is striking, which gives an idea of his technical capabilities and the rigor required by the hyper-realistic style.

Moraga often uses classical themes in his works, but mixes them with his particular iconography. Among the his most used icons, we find marine animals such as crabs, shells, fish or coral; but he also reproduces fruits of the earth -such as apples, garlic, nuts- and inert objects such as sheets, pillows, brushes and tubes of oil paint as decorative icons. On this occasion, he has placed some apples as a decorative icon, whose intense red color contrasts sharply with the brown tones of the rest of the work and with the white background.

On the other hand, we also usually find rusty parts in his works as a reflection of the passage of time. This rust is a constant in his works. Here, the entire sculptural group gives off drops of rust that try to draw the viewer’s attention to the age of the reproduced sculptures.