cparris:

Saint Denis

This is the piece I made for the Sacrilege artbook, which is now in limbo so I’m sharing it! It’s hard for me to finish anything, much less something of this size, so I’m really proud of it. I thought it looked cool during its various stages so I included WIP pictures. (Gold leafing is the biggest pain in the ass ever, but god damn is it beautiful in person!)

I had never heard of Denis before making this, and once I found out about him I couldn’t resist. He was a Bishop of Paris and was martyred by decapitation. He then picked up his head and walked six miles while preaching a sermon. Some artists have depicted him with the halo behind his head even when it’s in his arms, but I just loved the idea of an empty halo too much!