2008 Signature Piece

The Prophet
Stephen Janton

Oil on gesso panel  24" x 36"

Stephen Janton's Website

Michelangelo sketched all of the images of the Sistine Chapel before the project of painting was begun. Some of these he altered. Such is the case with the Libyan Sybil (a sybil is a female prophet, or seer). The original cartoon shows that he studied the pose from a male figure, but he decided to transform him into a female. This practice accounts for the extremely muscular physique of his portrayal of women in general.

Long before the Savior was born of the Virgin, and up to around the time of His first Advent, there are said to have lived wise women who inhabited shrines, temples, and caves, and who, being blessed "by the gods" with the gift of prophecy, read the signs of nature in order to foretell the future. We call these seers "Sibyls," after the Greek word for prophetess ("sibulla").

Our knowledge of the origins of these women is obscured by the mists of myth and time, the first written record of them coming from Heraclitus, who wrote of one -- perhaps the only one at the time -- in a fragment dating to the 6th century before Christ. It reads:

The Sibyl, with frenzied mouth uttering things not to be laughed at, unadorned and unperfumed, yet reaches to a thousand years with her voice by aid of the god.

The original image was painted by Michelango as a female on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Artist Statement

I am a realist painter who enjoys the challenge of painting the human form. I have been so influenced and impressed by the Old Masters, the Dutch “Little Masters” and the best of the French academic painters of the nineteenth century. They carried oil painting to its highest pinnacle of technical perfection. In addition, having grown up in Wilmington Delaware, I was exposed to the Brandywine School and the artists Pyle, the entire Wyeth family and my friend and guide George Weymouth. Portraiture and the human form have always been my main interest and I have developed a good sense of form during my many years working as a Physical Therapist.

I attempt painting what is real to me…what I see. In doing a portrait, I enjoy finding the composition that best describes the individual’s personality and I include the person being painted in that process which makes for a more successful outcome. I frequently utilize the technique of a single light source in my portraits as it helps create greater depth and dimension. I rely primarily on the techniques of traditional oil painting but have tested my deepest level of patience by painting in egg tempera and appreciate the quality of skin tones created by its unique process.

Artwork should stand on its own merits – or fail on its own shortcomings if it does not succeed in registering favorably upon the viewer’s sensibilities. Quality is the central issue, as it must be where art is concerned. I am doing my best and enjoying the process in attempting to create quality art.

 

The Prophet  (Detail)

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