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The whole painting -
'Dennis' - One of our cats in the netherlandish style of the mid- to late-15th centuary with a hint of Rogier Van der Weyden's paintings added. In reality, this cat is brutal: his idea of getting you to wake up and let him out in the morning it so stuff his paw under the duvet and sink his claws into the sole of your foot and as far as dead things to bring home as presents, his ideas are on the scale of rats rather than mice. He is big and strong but very soft. |
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| Close-up of the ruff around his neck, showing detail of the inside of each loop and also: the reflection of the underside of the ruff on the right, where it is reflected in the chest plate of the armour; and, the reflection of the front of the ruff where it is reflected at a different angle by the armour that protects the right arm. |
Close-up of the ruff and its reflection of the front of it in the armour that protects his left arm. |
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| Close-up showing: The ends of the cuff-ruff, showing that it is made up not only from external loops but also from internal loops that are considerably smaller; the reflection of the ruff in the various curved surfaces of the helmet; and the reflection in the helmet of his claws which, on this paw, are extended to hold onto the helmet. In the part of the helment that reflects his claws, you, in effect, have an end-of-paw viewpoint of his paw, just being able to see the ends of some of the ruff loops. |
The ostrich feathers and in the helment and each segment of the arm armour, we see their reflection. |
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The gold-leaf lettering - 24ct gold.
Dennis - Ætatis Suæ IIII - Anno Domini 2015
(Dennis - aged 4 - the year 2015) |
Close-up of the gold leaf of the word 'Suæ' showing how the surface of the canvas undulates, making the job of guilding it quite difficult. Here, the gold has been applied and then the edges neatened by painting over. |
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| Close-up of the brocade on the inside of the helmet (why not have a bit of comfort?) showing the shading and how the reflected highlights of the gold silk come through. |
Extreme close-up of the brocade on the inside of the helmet showing how the golden silk effect is produced by using brown, gold ochre and gold ochre mixed with white and a little Indian Yellow over a fairly unsaturated ground. |
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| Just in case you were wondering how practical it might be to have armour for a cat, one of the major concerns is what you do with the tail. Here, it is in a segmented, flexible tube that is articulted in a similar way to the armour that covers the feet (although clearly, it has to be able to flex in two diensions, not just one). |
The Grosse coat of arms - from the 'Roll of Arms of the Reign of Edward the Second'; 'Le Gros, quartile de argent e de azure, a une bende de sable e iij merelos de or' - quarters of silver and blue and a diagonal black band with three gold blackbirds. |