Nus Divins

Hommage à la Peinture Italienne

" HOMAGE TO ITALIAN PAINTING "

The birth of Divine Nudes is the result of thorough research into the infinite variations of light on the body. Inspired by Italian pictorial aesthetics and Luminism, Ronald Martinez worked in the dark, with just a single source of light placed on the left, for the first three nudes in his 2012 Parisian series.

The beauty of the chiaroscuro effect obtained is completely free of any computer retouches. The nuances of the light redraw the outlines of the bodies and bring out the skin tones, creating art with a real aesthetic force and great sensory richness.

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N1

105x140 - 60x80cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N2

160x115cm - 140x105 - 126x86cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N3

110x80cm - 70x50cm - 40x30cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N4

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N5

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N5

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

" a little history "

Charmed by the quality and innovation of this work, Gallery owner Maurizio Nobile invited the photographer to continue researching in his photo studio in Bologna. This trip further anchored the artist's Italian inspiration

The twelve photographic paintings that he made in Bologna evoke the pictorial innovations of the Renaissance masters, whether via Caravaggio and Cagnacci's claroscuro or Velasquez's palette. The bodies are displayed with graceful nudity and divine accents.

During the final stages of his work, Ronald decided to work with Maître Choï, Helmut Newton's film developer. This collaboration gave life to pictures that breach the frontier between painting and photography.

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N7

170x210cm - 115x160cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N8

115x160cm - 105x140cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N9

115x160cm - 90x130cm - 60x80cm - 40x60cm

​

"Divine Nudes N9 - The Piece of Ronald Martinez"

Ronald Martinez's Pieta takes its inspiration from Italian pictorial luminism,

associating chiaroscuro with transcendence.

The definitely religious staging evokes the works of Michelangelo or Raphael,

while the chiaroscuro contrasts plunge the spectator into the artistic world of Caravaggio.

Beyond his different inspirations, the artist creates a composition with delicate geometry

and refined sculpting a graceful nudity with divine accents.

Artistic research on the posture of the models implicitly evokes a horizontal cross,

the man's arm responding symmetrically to the woman's face leaning over his elongated body.

By lifting him in her arms, she participates in creating an impression of spiritual elevation within the work.

Finally, the aesthetic and emotional force of this Divine Nu is sublimated by the nuances of light,

making the sacred dimension of bodies shine.

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N10

115x160cm - 105x140cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N11

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N12

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

"DIVINE NUDES N10 - Refined invention"

The birth of the Divine Nude N10 is closely linked to The lamentation over the dead Christ painted around 1480 by Ludovico Mantegna.
Ronald Martinez was inspired by it to achieve this Divine Nude, taking up the composition from the front in a central perspective from the feet to the head.
The model’s hands and feet are visible, allowing you to see the main stigmata of Christ in one glance.
However, the artist chose an unprecedented bias when shooting, by presenting Christ lying on his stomach.
He thus creates a refined reinvention where Christ is alone in the face of his suffering and death, differently from the work of Mantegna where he was surrounded by his loved ones.
By spreading a light rich in nuances on the skin tone of his model, Ronald Martinez associates chiaroscuro with transcendence and realizes a work of great sensory force.

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N13

105x140cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

​

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N14

115x160cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

Homage to Italian Painting

Divine Nude N14

115x160cm - 80x100cm - 40x60cm

​

" Divine Nudes N13 - Cover Kalthoum By Ibrahim Maalouf

The Divine Nudes N13 is a bust portrait of a three-quarter-seated young woman, gazing at the viewer.
Soft light redraws the contours of the body and enhances the complexion of the model plunged into darkness.
Inspired by the portraits of the Italian Renaissance, Ronald Martinez realizes a work where the border between painting and photography becomes permeable.
In September 2015, Ibrahim Maalouf presented his new album entitled Kalthoum.
Constructed as a tribute to the great Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum, Ibrahim Maalouf then sought a work that could embody it, combining history and modernity.
Charmed by the beauty of Nu Divin N13 and the photographic innovation it represents, Ibrahim Maalouf chose him to illustrate the cover of his album, making this portrait an internationally recognized work.

"FROM DREAM TO THE INELUCTABLE"

After a unanimous welcome from collectors both in France and internationally, Ronald continued his artistic research and his reflection on claroscuro. In 2015, he unveiled for the first time his second series of Divine Nudes, entitled From Dreams to the Inevitable.

The viewer finds the same soft glow as in his first series, which comes to caress the bodies and subtly reveal their beauty. The artist offers ever-more graceful compositions, accompanied by a harmonious, chromatic palette that calls out to dreams.

His reflection on dreams had already begun with Divine Nude N15, which evoked both Cleopatra's death and a sleeping Venus. This research has since continued and takes full form in the new series. The model in Divine Nude N17 appears to have plunged into a contemplative and sensual dream-like state.

Strong works respond to the gentleness of these first pieces. The Divine Nudes N20, with their Caravaggio-esque expression, recalls the inevitability and ephemeral nature of all humanity. New works will soon rejoin these first nudes.

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N16

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N19

160x115cm - 120x86cm - 100x80cm - 40x60cm

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N16

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N21

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N18

100x140cm - 100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N21

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N22

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N25

120x86cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N23

130x110cm - 110x80cm - 60x90cm - 40x70

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N25

120x86cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N28

120cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N28

120cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

" VIRGIN TO CHILD" 

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N23

130x110cm - 110x80cm - 60x90cm - 40x70

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N26

120x86cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

From dream to inevitable

Divine Nude N29

100x80cm - 80x60cm - 40x60cm

​

The Madonna and Child is an emblematic artistic subject from the 5th to the 17th century.
The representations of the Virgin and Child respond to a canon, mixing the will to include in the image strong symbols of the Passion of Christ and the Redemption, as well as the desire to express the sweetness of feelings between a mother and child.
Ronald Martinez delicately appropriates this subject, paying particular attention to the axis of looks between mother and child as well as to the symbolic signs of the fingers and hands.
Nudity is sublimated gracefully by a claroscuro inspired by Le Caravage or Valentin de Boulogne.
While taking a personal look at the theme, his compositions are influenced by the painting of the great masters of the Italian renaissance such as Leonardo da Vinci.
The artist offers subtle reinventions where the softness of the compositions is enhanced by the depth of the play of light on the bodies.

Madonna and Child

N1

140x110cm - 100x80cm - 60x43cm

​

Madonna and Child

N2

140x110cm - 100x80cm - 60x43cm

​

" OMNIA VANITAS " 

Omnia Vanitas is a separate series in Ronald Martinez's portfolio. During 2015, the idea came to him to confront light with other subjects besides nudes. The repentant Magdalen from Nus Divins N20 turned his artistic research towards vanities, thus giving a decidedly philosophical and humanist edge to his Special Series.

Ronald's compositions compile traditional, symbolic elements of gender. The Special Series N2, a vanity accompanied by wilting flowers, evokes the transitory nature of human life, whilst Special Series N4 illustrates the vanity of worldly possessions by the presence of a musical instrument and books.

In his artwork, claroscuro and Caravaggio-esque compositions are persistently present. Special Series N5, showing a basket of apples, is in fact homage to Caravaggio's La Corbeille de fruits, painted around 1594-1599. As the artist's reflection on his still-lives is in constant evolution, new works will soon be added to this existing series.

Omnia Vanitas

N1

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm

Omnia Vanitas

N1

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm

​

Omnia Vanitas

N3

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm

​

Omnia Vanitas

N4

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm

​

Omnia Vanitas

N5

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm

Omnia Vanitas

N6

60x80cm - 40x60cm - 30x40cm