An antique dealer came to me with several hand carved pieces of wood, apparently in bad conditions, but still holding some value according to him.
Probably the assemblage was originally part of the back decoration for the "Holy Bread" container in some Catholic church.
The guy asked me to depict the face of God on it. Can you believe it?
This commission left me puzzled at first, in fact I had never thought of painting something so challenging. It shouldn't have been too common nor eccentric, nor unusual, let alone iconoclastic !
So, considering that the painting should have fitted the 18th century wood carvings, I decided to see how the old masters in the past had painted the face of God.
An old man with a white beard and an intense straight look was the best compromise I came about to satisfy my dealer.
Later the painting went through a process of aging.
Eventually the commission was a success.