artofmilankovacevic

[artofmilankovacevic]

Lakshmi - one of the three primary goddesses in Hinduism, the spouse of Vishnu, is honored as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. Wealth represented by Lakshmi encompasses both material and spiritual riches.

While sitting on the lotus flower, her visage and outstretched hands are positioned in a 'mudra' that symbolizes compassion, generosity, or dāna ('charity'). The term Lakshmi in Sanskrit translates to 'to perceive, observe, know, understand' and 'goal, aim, objective', respectively. In essence, it encourages one to know and comprehend their objectives.

Personal illustration.

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Flora masculina cameo

[artofmilankovacevic]

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour & Duchesse de Menars (1721-1764) - the powerful and influential official mistress, a close friend and advisor of King Louis XV, and a major patron of the arts. She possessed multiple artistic talents and skills: The Marquise carved intaglios and cameos in semi-precious stones for rings and bracelets; she created 52 engravings, based on drawings by Boucher and gems by Guay (published as her portfolio, "Suite d’Estampes Gravées Par Madame la Marquise de Pompadour d’Après les Pierres Gravées de Guay"). She was an accomplished musician, trained in singing and declamation, performing with a noted voice. She was skilled in performing and staging court amusements and plays, using her theatrical talents to entertain the court of Louis XV. She also played musical instruments, like the harpsichord and guitar.

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Rococo clock book vignette.

[artofmilankovacevic]

A Royal bed vignette for a book project.

[artofmilankovacevic]

A flower vase with an ara parrot, a book vignette.

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The Porcelain Prince.

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Commissioned portrait of the exquisite & talented craftsman weaver behind the Arakhne weaving (https://linktr.ee/Arakhne)

Personal digital artwork.

If you are interested in having a portrait of yours or someone else in a historical/mythological disguise, I am open for commissions.

[artofmilankovacevic]

HYAKINTHOS was a handsome young Spartan prince loved by the gods Apollon & Zephyros (The West-Wind). Zephyros however, grew jealous and one day, as Apollon and Hyakinthos were playing discus, blew the discus off course causing it to strike Hyakinthos and killing him. The desperate and grieving Apollon then transformed the dying youth into a larkspur/delphinium flower (hyakinthos in Greek) which he inscribed with the wail of mourning "AI, AI."

Personal illustration.

"When he beheld thy [Hyakinthos'] agony Phoebus [Apollon] was dumb. He sought every remedy, he had recourse to cunning arts, he anointed all the wound, anointed it with ambrosia and with nectar; but all remedies are powerless to heal the wounds of Fate." Bion, Poems 11 (Greek bucolic 2nd to 1st c. B.C.)

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Caliph of Baghdad, for a 18th century opera scene - an illustration for a long-term book project...

[artofmilankovacevic]

Demeter

A new & improved version of my Demeter illustration.

DEMETER, Greek goddess of agriculture, harvest, fertility, sacred law and the cycle of life and death. The central figure of the Eleusinian mysteries, which promised its initiates the path to a blessed afterlife in the realm of Elysium.

Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 275 ff : "[Demeter reveals her true divinity to Queen Metaneira :]

‘Lo! I am that Demeter who has share of honour and is the greatest help and cause of joy to the undying gods and mortal men . . .’ When she had so said, the goddess changed her stature and her looks, thrusting old age away from her [i.e. her disguise as an old woman] : beauty spread round about her and a lovely fragrance was wafted from her sweet-smelling robes, and from the divine body of the goddess a light shone afar, while golden tresses spread down over her shoulders, so that the strong house was filled with brightness as with lightning. And so she went out from the palace."

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A new cameo from our forge - Trojan prince Paris (also known as Aléxandros), who was dragged by gods into initiating the Trojan war by abducting the most beautiful woman of Antiquity, Hellen of Sparta, under auspices of his immortal benefactrice, the very goddess of Love, Aphrodite. I based the portrait on a speculative account of Dares the Phrygian, who described Pars as "fair, tall, and brave. His eyes were very beautiful, his hair soft and blond, his mouth charming, and his voice pleasant. He was swift, and eager to take command." However, it is possible that I will return with an alternative version based on the account of the Byzantine chronicler Malalas, whose Paris is "well-grown, sturdy, white, good nose, good eyes, black pupils, black hair, incipient beard, long-faced, heavy eyebrows, big mouth, charming, eloquent, agile, an accurate archer, cowardly, hedonist".

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What an enchanting music and performance.

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“The Fliers of Gy - A Messenger” (story by Ursula K. Le Guin) - a rendition in the form of a cameo portrait of my submission for the Folio Book Illustration Reward 2023. Unfortunately not selected.

Extract from Ursula K. Le Guin “The Fliers of Gy":

"THE PEOPLE OF GY look pretty much like people from our plane except that they have plumage, not hair. A fine, fuzzy down on the heads of infants becomes a soft, short coat of speckled dun on the fledglings, and with adolescence this grows out into a full head of feathers. Most men have ruffs at the back of the neck, shorter feathers all over the head, and tall, erectile crests. The head plumage of males is brown or black, barred and marked variously with bronze, red, green, and blue. ... Gy men and women are downy in the pubic region and pit of the arm and often have short, fine plumage over the whole body. People with brightly colored body feathers are a cheerful sight when naked, but they are much troubled by lice and nits."

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Commissioned portrait in the disguise of Félix, comte d'Hézecques - 3 versions.

If you are interested to have a portrait of yours or someone else in a historical or mythological disguise, I am open for commissions.

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Eros gives the manuscript to the comte d'Hézecques - an illustration for the upcoming book I am illustrating.

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A cameo portrait of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.