A new portrait of Don Bosco

2020 Portait by David Pastor (below)

(ANS – Alicante, Spain) - During these weeks of isolation, it has often been said that this is a good time to resume some abandoned activity or to finish some pending task. David Pastor Corbí, an artist from Alicante, says he has recently completed a work he has had in mind for 20 years:  a portrait of Don Bosco at the window of his room in Valdocco.

The history of this portrait literally goes back to the last century. "In 1999 I painted a mural large enough for the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians in Alcoy (Alicante), where I gave plastic arts lessons," explains the artist. "The then director, Pasqual Lluch, told me that the Superior of the old Province of Valencia, David Churio, wanted me to paint a Don Bosco when I'd have the time."

"I've thought about it a long time and I decided to represent Don Bosco in his room, looking outside Valdocco, through the windows with their picturesque and characteristic green painted shutters," continues David Pastor. "I decided that they would be shown as if they'd never been closed and so being always open, they appear damaged by the inclement weather."

And some further details add to the painting's symbolic significance:

David Pastor's work summarizes Don Bosco's pedagogical mission in a few meaningful particulars.

"I wanted to represent him surrounded by books, which symbolize the intellectual task, education as the foundation of the formation of the Oratory's youth," he explains. "The other tools and implements represent manual work and vocational training.

I also wish to draw attention to the juggler balls he holds in his hand, which refer to the performing arts and the fun and games, which are always part of Salesian wholistic education and apostolates," says the painter.

Furthermore, Don Bosco's facial expression reveals his life offered to young people:

"That gaze of Don Bosco was what I wanted to convey, drawn from one of the original photographs of him. It's an expert's gaze, intense, looking at the hard work done and for what is still to be done. There is so much power in it, despite the years that weighed it down," he adds.

The last creative phase of the work coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, the artist wanted to give it a new meaning. "When the moment of confinement due to Covid-19 arrived, that green shutter changed its symbolism; it became a point of hope and confidence in the future, while the books, juggling-balls and tools became models of constructive activity despite confinement”.