Simon Gardiner

Carvoran roman fort was known as Magnae Carvetiorum to the Romans themselves, and an aquila (eagle) was of course the standard of a Roman legion. While visiting the Roman Army Museum near Greenhead we saw both an immersive 3D film conveying the life of a legionary called “The Eagle’s Eye” and a relief map reconstruction of the fort itself and Hadrian’s wall. Unusually, this is a fort forming part of the Hadrian’s wall defences, while also being clearly separate, presumably because its building predates that of the wall, to guard the junction between the Maiden Way and Stanegate Roman roads.

The resulting image is a natural combination of the two; a golden eagle (the natural range of which covers both Italy and Britain) flying high above Magnae Carvetiorum as it is believed to have been laid out, also making use of the three-dimensional effect of a strong emboss in the wall and fort. I chose linocut as a medium because it lends itself well to strong, graphic images, and because I feel confident about being able to produce a clear image reasonably quickly. I composed the image on a single piece of lino, later cutting it into seven separate pieces, each inked separately and then reassembled before printing in what are effectively three compositional layers: ground, cloud and eagle. I used Intaglio Printmakers oil-based litho/relief ink (black, ultramarine, primrose yellow, raw umber and extender) and Fabriano Rosaspina bianco paper.