MISCELLANEOUS PROJECTS
I have compiled some of the various side projects this studio is involved with which are shown below.
After having developed the Ad Victoriam, my first hand-carved and Corinthian Roman Temple miniature made from various hardwoods, my more immediate goal is to complete development of an Ionic Roman Temple miniature of the same high quality, materials and details as the Corinthian model.
Also, I would like to develop a miniature round temple (rotunda) of very high quality but this will be a long term goal as creating a wooden dome and entablature prototype based on my clay model will take a lot of work and strategy.
For the present time, I am thus focusing more on the designing, development and actual construction of temples rather than reliefs and other sculptures.
ROMAN ROUND TEMPLE DOME
This is a clay prototype of a round temple - called a Rotunda - that I am developing. It will be challenging to construct the dome and entablature in wood. It is difficult enough to a flat entablature - carving out a finely detailed round entablature will require a lathe and a lot of skill and imagination. The columns will probably be ionic. Nearly all of the rotundas built in the last few centuries all use ionic columns, such as the beautiful Temple of Diana rotunda, shown in the image below.
Temple of Diana - Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini, Genoa
The Temple of Diana above shows you a vision of the overall concept I am hoping to bring into fruition. This superb little rotunda is located at the Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini in Genoa, Italy. Though constructed in more modern times, it is nevertheless quite beautiful and and very Roman in theme.
It is composed of eight ionic columns resting upon a stylobate below and a very ornate entablature above the columns featuring garlands and Bucrania (cattle skulls which alude to Roman/Greek religious tradition of sacrifice). Within the entablature garlands I see what may be the round symbol of the Roman goddess Juno.
The dome rests a progression of three large mouldings above the entablature. These three mouldings resemble the stylobate foundation below. Located within the rotunda, and resting upon a lovely sculptured plinth, is the Roman goddess Diana.
VARIOUS ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
I have assembled various pieces and sections of miniature temple prototypes - all wooden, except for the dome with oculus and stylobate below the dome - which are made of a composite material.
The lessons gained in constructing these early prototypes were very valuable. My current Roman Temples Miniature, the "Ad Victoriam" is more sophisticated and the pieces more refined and accurate than these early models.
The Corinthian Capital shown in this image is far more primitive and unrefined compared to the current Corinthian Capital miniature, for example. And you will notice two sizes of entablature, two sizes of Ionic and also Corinthian columnns.
I had intially planned on developing two different sizes - or scales - of Roman temple miniatures, one 30% smaller than the other. But after the huge effort in developing and then constructing a high-quality Roman temple miniature, I realized that creating an even smaller miniature was simply too time-consuming and I thus abandoned the idea. Who knows - maybe some day I may create the smaller version - it all depends on time and demand. A problem with very small scale is that the smaller you go, the greater the difficulty in recreating certain details in wood and in finding tools small enough - and the demand for even greater magnification increases greatly with even smaller size.
YOUNG BACCHUS AND MAENADS
In this drawing we have a Thiasus of 6 Maenads dancing with Lyre, Tibia and Cornu. Bacchus holds a tympanum in his left hand and a chalice in the right. This concept will be realized from drawing to a high-relief sculpture approximately 23 x 38 cm (8 x 9 x 15 inches). It typically takes approximately 4 to 6 months to complete. Due to the great amount of work over the past two years on creating Roman temples, this project has been delayed indefinitely.