Benedict met monk Romanus at Subiaco whose monastery was on a mountain above a cliff overhanging a cave. Through his advice Benedict became a hermit living in this cave for three years, unknown to every one else except Romans, who lowered bread down the cliff in a basket.
I was very interested in using drapery to express something. I had a costume made that was much larger than the model. I arranged the excess drapery to make the folds to express something transcendent.
The sculpture sits at the top of the entrance steps to the Benedict XVI Retreat Centre, NSW.
Head, St. Benedict of Norcia
I had never met my costume model, Antonio Jesus de la Fe Guedes, before he arrived to sit for the statue of St. Benedict for Australia. He totally looked the part. I immediately began a portrait head of him for the statue, before the body was enlarged.