"El Magnifico"

This painting holds a special place for me, as I have a fascination with the roe deer that is as great as it is inexplicable. It seems to me that this animal is one of those beings fashioned directly by the divine: its elegance, its posture, the way it holds its head, its trophy — everything about it commands admiration. It is like a melody without a false note.

Since childhood, every time I see a roe deer at the edge of a road or round a bend in a path, I feel the same delight, never jaded. I must have inherited this from my grandfather, who, the moment he spotted a roe deer emerging from the wood, would stop whatever he was doing, move closer to the window, and contemplate this furtive apparition until it vanished.