Hi Robert !

Well I think you have pretty much answered your own question. Yes, I have to agree with you it is incongruous ! It makes the poor baby look like a real monster. I have to confess that I was pretty horrified when I saw one of those Madonna pictures with the baby Jesus, half baby and half adult face by Leonardo da Vinci, no less ! at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.

I thoroughly recommend this current exhibition ' Renaissance Faces ' being shown at the National Gallery in London which has been organized in collaboration with the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, I really did enjoy it, it has had very good reviews from the newspapers as well. I especially liked the section of Courtship and Friendship. There is one picture which I really loved of a Venetian couple, where she is shown extending her hand whilst her suitor is placing a golden ring on her finger. The ring is a symbol of love. In the background is cupid holding an ox-yolk behind their shoulders, another sign of marriage, this cupid's gaze is cheekily looking at him alone, rather than her, meaning that it is he who has to observe his marriage vows seriously and has to curb his wayward eyes and ways by accepting his new responsibilities.

This is the sketch I have done of Peter for the new portrait. What do you think ? Or should I do it more formal ? the trouble is that Peter hates formality, if he is portrayed the way you see it here, it would be how he always looks naturally, with his polo neck shirts.