Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

The Preacher was exhibited in several venues in Italy. One of them was at the Palazzo Datini in Prato where I had a solo show. This palace was the residence of an important merchant in the later part of the 1300s named Francesco Datini. He invented the letter of credit. This sculpture was also exhibited at the Met in Manila for the Philippine centennial celebrations, at the La Salle Gallery when the exhibit was inaugurated by Tita King Kasilag. Carved from an ancient cypress tree that grew up in the vicinity of the medieval castle named Torre Del Castellano in Regello near Florence. It bore the wounds of World War II. When I was carving it, I came upon bits of shrapnel! I was doing sculpture inspired by mother goddesses in general. I thought of making a representation of a goddess that would include all the goddesses I knew. This sculpture talks about hope, life, and wisdom thus the title preacher. The owl is perched on the head, the seat of wisdom. -Dudley Diaz