Inscriptions
This acrylic painting was inspired by a Biblical text that was set to music by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). His ‘Spem in Alium’ comprises forty separate choral parts: eight choirs each of five parts. The choir sings the same words at different stages, in a kind of canon, unaccompanied. Music scholars generally acknowledge that the complexity of this piece of music is one of choral music’s pinnacles.
The key objectives in this large-scale painting using the same text as Tallis, were: to include the entire text (in Latin), and to express the quiet, tentative opening of the piece of music (by a single voice, followed by the steady build up in complexity as further voices enter. Towards the end all voices resolve to the words: ‘Respice humilitatem nostram’.
Because of the elongated format of this painting, each of the four adjoining panels is shown separately. The piece is suitable mounted as a mural, in a large architectural setting, unframed.
English Translation:
I have never placed my hope
In any other than you, O God of Israel,
who can show both anger and graciousness,
and absolve all the sins
of suffering man.
Lord God, creator of Heaven and earth,
be mindful of our humiliation.
See three following images to see complete painting.