Tim Keane
After Masaccio
1.
His copper
gold halo circles over soft white halo circles and so, to start, a penciled
halo drawn in an easy turning circle, smoothly perfect circle penciled easily
back round the circle. Halo. Soft-white hair layered in curls under his halo,
curvy locks drawn on a round scalp, drawn easy enough with a loose grip, easing
into a looser trembling grip to let the curls overlap, drawn feathery, curls
penciled loose to an end with smoke-shading for the start of his neck. Perfect
shade scratches. Soft-making.
2.
How the
blue mantle gives off a sea green shadow under his bunchy sleeve, drawing the
shadow in cloudy circles, the charcoal pressed to paper first lightly then
giving off sharp lines, fast lines, smoky soft and fast, penciling down his arm
with light shaking traces smoothing straight to the robe cuff, a tremble-gentle
circle of cuff, tracing down wrist-to-hand and round to closed fingers, fleshy
knuckled fingers, drawn soft. The fingers of the other hand peek under the
sleeve touching the orange gold, a tender hand-peek under the robe folds.
Perfect. Also-perfect down from his left shoulder in fabric-light lines, traces
with shadowed folds, bends, how the robe glows orange-gold: a fresco
orange-gold: color-heat: heaven rich orange. And the sun on his robe darkens
the thick folds.
3.
Down to
draw feet, penciling a liquid outline, tracing feet, toes, a shaded heel,
rounded in half circles, almost perfect now, back up, tracing again along the
waves of fabric line fronting his robe, trembling lines, penciled so, and
perfect, and how much perfect in the soft lines, the body full now even without
the finished face: saint Peter: fisher of men: deep eyes: solemn boned: staring
down at his own hand extended there, paying out as Jesus says to pay, handing
over and knowing in his moment, in the giving, from deep dark Palestine eyes
looking at his loss, tribute money: eyes telling us all the while how much more
than coins he hands to the leaning man in red.
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Tim Keane is the author of the poetry collection Alphabets of Elsewhere (Cinnamon Press). His award-winning writing has appeared in Modern Painters, Shenandoah, Denver Quarterly, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Reader (UK) and numerous other publications. He teaches writing and European literature at BMCC, CUNY, in lowerManhattan
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Tim Keane is the author of the poetry collection Alphabets of Elsewhere (Cinnamon Press). His award-winning writing has appeared in Modern Painters, Shenandoah, Denver Quarterly, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Reader (UK) and numerous other publications. He teaches writing and European literature at BMCC, CUNY, in lower
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