or The Golden Age
4 ' x 4 '
oil on canvas
2001
Private collection
time when all things were in abundance and mankind lived a
carefree existence -- in a sort of paradise where everyone had enough
to eat and no one thought of stealing what freely and rightfully
belonged to their neighbors. This oil painting was inspired in Miguel
de Cervantes' novel, Don QUIXOTE de la MANCHA , written in the
early 1600s. In chapter 11 of the novel (First Part), Cervantes'
knightly hero, Don Quixote, tells a group of simple goatherds about
the Golden Age and how he had come into the world to revive that
era's spirit of freedom and trust among mankind.
In this composition I tried to portray -- by combining several
spatial planes and the forms of the square and the circle -- the
multifaceted narrative of Cervantes' novel. I also painted Don
Quixote's friendship with his squire, Sancho Panza, as a an emblem
of Cervantes' belief in the bond of true human friendship.
Chapter 11, Part One
of Cervantes' novel!
