Theodosius (2025) Original Oil Painting by Nicolas Maureau

A shirtless adolescent on a black metal chair, blessing with one hand in the Greek Pantocrator tradition, an upright sword forming a cross in the other: this is Theodosius, Nicolas Maureau revisiting Byzantine imperial iconography through a contemporary lens.

The gold background, worn and scratched on one side, lets in a fragile, diffuse light, nothing like the radiant glow of ancient mosaics it echoes. Red and white checkered shorts and red sneakers sit strangely close to that same mosaic pattern, somewhere between antique tessellation and a pixelated modern surface.

Inspired by Theodosius II, crowned emperor at seven years old, the painting carries the weight of power inherited before it can be understood, and its performative nature once it arrives. Majestic and vulnerable at once, authority worn too young, suspended somewhere between ritual and reality.

Materials used:

oil painting

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 97 x 130 x 2cm (unframed) / 97 x 130cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Photorealistic
• Subject: People and portraits