I recently finished this drawing of a Chi-Rho monogram (a traditional abbreviation of the name Christ, or Χριστος in Greek), with figures of Jesus as Salvator Mundi, the Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist. I made this on speculation, to experiment with some new ornamental ideas; I had been reading Louis Sullivan’s treatise on ornament recently, and thinking about fractal shapes like the Mandelbrot set — these were a strong influence on my art decades ago, and I have been trying to think of ways to reintroduce them. The decorative leaves here are of kale, curly dock, and ivy.
I am now offering special prices on newly finished drawings to my newsletter’s subscribers. The first person who contacts me via e-mail (danielmitsui@danielmitsui.com) to claim a drawing will be able to purchase it at discount, before it goes up on my regular website.
This drawing is black ink on Bristol board, and measures 11″ × 14″. Its usual price will be $4000, and can be purchased now for $3500.
The Chi-Rho monogram has long fascinated me, and I have drawn it many times over the years. This is certainly because I encountered the famous page of the Lindisfarne Gospels at a formative time, when I was about fourteen years old:
About eight years after that, when I decided to pursue religious art as my specialty, this was one of the first drawings I made:
(I still have this drawing in storage, and would be happy to sell it also.)
I drew this Chi-Rho in a more strictly Northumbro-Irish style in 2010:
And I drew this, a larger version of the same composition, of calfskin in 2020:
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