In the hunting palaces of Italy's royal houses, the stag was the noblest prey. He was hunted and his antlers were hung on the wall as trophies – at Stupinigi near Turin, the House of Savoy even placed him as a figure on the dome of their hunting palace.
Here he returns. In the ballroom of an abandoned hunting palace stands a mighty stag, calm and immovable, looking down at the viewer. His coat glows in brilliant blue and quinacridone magenta, cadmium yellow burns on his brow, mane and shoulders; paint runs from his antlers in long streams. Above him hangs a Murano chandelier, the only warm light in the room. On the walls, the antlers of his ancestors; at his hooves, the broken trophy shield and the hunters' horn. The room stays black, grey and white. The colour names come from the pigments David paints his originals with.
