O L G A   C A N N O N - B R O O K E S

The Sins of Gluttony and Lust

At first glance, "The Sins of Gluttony and Lust" looks just like a view of a gallery full of pictures. This is misleading. In reality, it breaks a new ground in using other famous painting as models. Until now artists have depicted the paintings by others in their work only as a backdrop to a scene, never the main characters. Even when the pictures by others are used as a subject of a painting (like in Teniers famous 1660s Theatrum Pictorium), they don't  communicate with us - they are just an illustrated inventory of the Wilhelm's collection, albeit a very beautiful one.  I have collected a group of famous masterpieces, which are otherwise scattered around the world, in one imaginary Gallery. They tell the story of Lust, Rape and Seduction. The table, full of food quoted from well-known Dutch still-life paintings represents Gluttony. And Caravaggio's "Entombment of Christ", highlighted by a dramatic splash of light, symbolises the Redemption from these sins. Durer's Adam and Eve on both sides of the Christ represent the Original Sin. Art has life. The pictures speak and act, they don't just hang there silently.

The Key below shows the provenance of each real picture playing its part in my imaginery Collection of Sins.