School of Athens - updated

I have reloaded this post with a larger image for better viewing (please full view)
Unfortunately the photo is not the best quality - it was not taken by me.

This is a recreation of "The School of Athens" by the old master Raphael. I was commissioned to do this piece for Limnos Bakery, Greenpoint, Cape Town. The surface is supawood (1.8 by 2.8 meters) which was mounted on the wall afterwards.

I have new found respect for the old masters - besides the detail, perspective, architectural study, composition and story telling ability, the original of this is many times larger than mine. The old masters also could not cut corners like we do today even down to the point where they had to mix their own paints. To imagine that the original "School of Athens" was one of many such murals by the artist - I am in awe.

I am not in a hurry to do anything like this again soon
Approximate time - a little everyday, stretched over 2 months.