Retired teacher recreating famous religious artworks by Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Da Vinci

The retired schoolteacher from Glengormley spent years replicating paintings including the famous 16th century work The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, currently on display at the Ulster Museum, at an evening art class at the Northern Regional College in Newtownabbey.

He did it “purely as a hobby” before and after he retired, the Co Antrim man explained.

“I always wanted to try my hand at painting and then I noticed this class was starting and figured I’d give it a go,” Kevin said.

“It took me years to do the paintings, but I really enjoyed it.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an artist by any means, I wouldn’t lay claim to that, but I have a real appreciation for art.”

Specialising in classical, religious-style paintings, his work has been displayed at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.

In addition to using traditional oil paint to recreate the artworks, Kevin has also experimented in the style of egg tempera, used mostly by Byzantine and Early Christian icon painters prior to oils being invented in the 15th century.

He has created his own religious icon paintings using the ancient technique.

“There aren’t many tutors teaching this style, but I wanted to try it out,” he explained.

“Basically, you mix up the fine powder pigment with egg yolk and vinegar and put the colours on very dry onto a wooden panel.

“It’s a very slow, meticulous process but I really enjoy it.”

The Supper at Emmaus and The Taking of Christ, painted in 1601 and 1602 respectively by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, have rarely been seen together since the first quarter of the 17th century but are currently side by side in the Ulster Museum.

Kevin said it was “surreal” when he viewed the original painting recently, despite having recreated a copy in his art class.

In addition to the copy of Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus Kevin has at home, he has recreated the artist’s The Taking of the Christ — the original is also currently on display at the Ulster Museum — and The Incredulity of St Thomas. These recreations are also on display at St Anne’s.

There is also a recreation of Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi displayed at the cathedral too.

Kevin explained that, after creating so many paintings, he was encouraged to reach out and see if the Dean at St Anne’s at the time was interested in hanging them as they all followed a religious theme.

“He was so impressed he told me to bring them on down, and they’ve been hung there for the guts of 10 years now,” he said.

“The originals of the ones hung there have some really interesting backgrounds; Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi was sold in 2017 for a record-breaking $450 million by a Saudi Arabian Crown Prince and another, Rembrandt’s Sea of Galilee, was one of 12 paintings in the largest American art theft back in 1990 — it’s apparently still on the FBI’s most wanted list!”

Kevin assured that the paintings are very different than the originals and would not attract the attention of the FBI anytime soon. “The original of the Rembrandt painting is about the size of a door; mine’s a fair deal smaller and, well, he is the master,” he added.

Kevin — who taught Irish and French for many years — said that his first encounter with this style of religious art was when he visited a chapel in Padua, a city in northern Italy, with his father when he was a child.

“My dad used to teach at a school in Italy near Milan and he took me to see one of the early paintings by Giotto – famous for his frescos on various chapels around Italy,” he added.

“I think that really sparked my interest; I don’t profess to be an art expert or a scholar, I’m just interested in art and I enjoy listening to audio books about the history of different artists.”

Kevin said that his own “deep faith” has also influenced his style of painting and the kind of artwork he appreciates.

“I definitely like improving on my faith. I attend a local prayer group that meets every two weeks to discuss the Gospel, and when I’m painting sometimes I like to think about scripture or maybe a passage in the Bible that comes to mind,” he explained.

“I’m a great believer that a painting can help tell a story and, years ago in the Middle Ages when people couldn’t read, a lot of the teaching was done through pictures, so it really is true that a picture can be worth a thousand words.”