Armour maketh the man
In 16th century war time armour maketh the man… it glorified his position in battle – but if you strip away the armour, then the man, you may only find a distant landscape bearing his soul.
Armour maketh the man belongs to the following groups:
Self as OtherAvailable for sale as Cards, Mounted Prints, Framed Prints and Posters

Andrew Walker, 9 months ago
bugger armour, gimmie a long bow any day and i’ll show you what your armour can do
nice picture though, verrrrrry clever
Jessica Tremp, 9 months ago
Paul, this is just brilliant…I can just see this hanging in a gallery…i’m speechless
Jeff Burns, 9 months ago
WOW powerful stunning image. Great work
This is so cool! WOW
ferndesign, 9 months ago
this is awesome great work
mikrin, 9 months ago
This is great! The transformation is wonderful
shayne2011, 9 months ago
A tryptich! It’s great. The high key tones are a great counterfoil to the subject, and the whole thing hangs together so well. I also like the little figure in the background of the centre panel. Well done. :)
Martin Derksema, 9 months ago
Oh, this really does a lot to me. It has the strength of a religious painting or icon. Also it has a beautiful surreal feel, but very subtle. What a great idea to express this line of thought with a triptych. Yeah, we come, we live and we go. This image leaves a deep silence in me.
Rod Adams, 9 months ago
Awesome as usual!!!!!
Suzanne German, 9 months ago
Paul – what a moving story ….your soul seems not that distant or absent – such a powerful scene…..stunning!
-sg
flower68, 9 months ago
brilliant artwork.love the choice of colour,the atmosphere the concept…
Barssel, 9 months ago
Great concept…...........really well done.
mayuphoto, 9 months ago
I really love the story behind. The change of its tone is great too. Such an artistic image.!
ozjami, 9 months ago
Very cool,cleverly put together !!
shall, 9 months ago
love it
x
billyboy, 9 months ago
Paul, I looked at this a while before I read your caption, and in fact I saw it just the other way round. Nature in its pure form, nicely contrasting in light and dark, wonderfully simplistic… is wary of the appearance of man on the scene. Could be good, might be bad, but naked, he is pure in his own way and although he has provoked imbalance, he has provided dynamic. But give him armor and aggression and he is a danger to the fabric of the world as it was originally conceived. The contrast and dynamic has turned to muddled darkness. An amazing story board with intense imagery. Jeeze Paul, we’re all going to burn!
Shanina Conway, 9 months ago
Brilliant Paul! love the tones and the visual journey!
Ian James, 9 months ago
Great piece….Just fantastic.
gordontant, 9 months ago
this is seriously good work Paul, and very well presented
shayne2011, 9 months ago
well, around here, cK., Dolce and Garbage or Abercrombie and Filth maketh a man. Not that much has changed. :)
Susan Trigg, 9 months ago
Very powerful images. I like the fact that this can be interpreted in more than one way (my initial reaction was the same as billyboy’s) – it requires contemplation. To me, the ‘perfect’ piece of art has both visual beauty as well as powerful message, and you’ve achieved both here.
Karen Cougan, 9 months ago
Wow Paul that has such great truth and meaning….........congrats mate.
xkc
Globalphotos, 9 months ago
Well written and such a wonderful representation, great work !
Antanas, 9 months ago
beautiful composed
Nando Machado, 9 months ago
Beautiful theme and execution, as always.
Mel Brackstone, 9 months ago
Awesome work Paul, you’re going from strength to strength!
amorspainter, 9 months ago
good work
i have to think when a see this
to the dutch masters of painting
dick
shanghaiwu, 9 months ago
mmm
oh so brilliant/most impressed by the creativeness and the body
really quite awesome
Chris White, 9 months ago
Great image and concept, and so well executed.
One fascinating thing is that apparently the average modern man wouldn’t fit in to an old suit of armour. Due to better nutrition and healthcare we are on average taller and bigger than our historic counterparts. Maybe we are evolving further away from our essential souls without the armour now as we gain more control over our physicality through science.
Lumineux, 9 months ago
You’ve outdone yourself with this one. Great work.
missalyshachri..., 9 months ago
wow, this is such a powerful piece!
excellent work
Flamejob, 9 months ago
My word it does. This is right up my alley Paul – wonderful, medeival and dark. Beautifully executed. This is a real cracker and one of my growing list of personal faves of yours.
Nicole Goggins, 9 months ago
brilliant job!
halftone, 9 months ago
I love the fact that you can see the heavenly human form on the left hand image, then half faded but definitely there in the middle, turning into full depth colour and detail, and then the dark scary figure on the right….your description is beautiful, as is your art.
Heather King, 9 months ago
this is freaking incredibly astounding paul
you always amaze me with your artistic creations
there is so much to this.
truly i am in awe.
ltruskett, 9 months ago
God you blow me away. Lost for words…..............bloody superb, matey – genius even. :)) (well, had a few words after all, I guess. LOVE IT.
Paul Louis Vil..., 9 months ago
Very powerful Paul!
Even though you have based the theme of this particular image in the 16th Century, it applies as much in modern times as it would’ve back then.
Perhaps we don’t wear armour today but we still are sometimes defined by our coverings and not our soul!
Superb work mate!
Helene Kippert, 9 months ago
Love the concept and the execution Paul
Basia McAuley, 9 months ago
A magnificent work of art.
karen milder, 9 months ago
powerful story
Melinda Kerr, 9 months ago
What a huge talent you are Paul.
Mohsen Bayramn..., 9 months ago
clever, creative and so fantastic idea… you have an amazing style!
ginnymac, 9 months ago
wowo ditto everybody!
SnapHappy, 9 months ago
splendid!
Karl Schlemmer, 9 months ago
Excellent Paul! :-)
Walter Colvin, 9 months ago
Excellent wrok Paul.
Rhana Griffin, 9 months ago
Your thought processes behind this image are intriguing Paul. I love how you have given the “distant landscape bearing his soul” the honour of first place in this triptych, for it truly is the soul and not the outer image we project to the world at large that is the most important thing. I also like how the landscape of the soul angles down towards the others. Our descent from the pure spiritual into the physicalities of man… and the constraints and perceptions society places on him.
Coralie Casey, 9 months ago
Wow, that’s awesome, love your description too.
Darren Burdell, 9 months ago
This Rocks!! There’s something Da Vinci esque about this, I agree with billyboy because I also read it from left to right. Great concept, deep narrative and absolutely nailed down tight!!!!
marcusjohn, 9 months ago
Yes this does rock- you are the man Paul… You are the modern day….
Bloody awsome
Jacq Wilson, 9 months ago
Oh…......um wow!! Again, you leave me searching for whatever it is that I am feeling….......I am intrigued by the power that you convey in your work. Just fabulous…........always raw ( especially that bum shot!!) Brilliant!
Sharon Bishop, 9 months ago
A powerful set of images and a narrative that is as true today as it was in the 16th century.
bodymechanic, 9 months ago
impressive triptych,excellent concept,unique result!! another iconic piece
orourke, 9 months ago
very interesting idea and well executed, well done again
vonne, 9 months ago
AMAZING image! WELL DONE!
annacuypers, 9 months ago
This is a strong work again Paul ! Well done,
Anna
cdwork, 9 months ago
Excellent!
Peter Fletcher, 9 months ago
Powerful imagery. I really like this one,
Heather Rivet..., 9 months ago
powerful and original..fantastic
LittleHelen, 9 months ago
Gosh…the guy in the armor is cool. Great triptych ;)
Andriy Portyanko, 9 months ago
Very cool! Interesting work!
Gerijuliaj, 9 months ago
Great triptych Paul – love the concept of the man in armour fading to the light of just his soul in the landscape on the left (peace), and how you have placed yourself centre on this spiritual journey….love the light/shade and tonings. Europe has obviously been a great inspiration for you.
DawsonImages, 9 months ago
Imaginative work, nicely done!
Gerijuliaj, 9 months ago
Meant to say also that I love how you have depicted the empty landscape for the soul as the beginning and the end of this triptych…as it is in life – everything goes full circle.
shaytay, 9 months ago
Intense!:)
conilouz, 9 months ago
very awesome,, great looking model too….
Julie Langford
,
9 months ago
Breathtaking Paul – stunning work
Jamie Lee, 9 months ago
The power you create in your images is impressive. This one is magnificent!
Paul Vanzella
,
9 months ago
WOW – I am so overwhelmed by the response to this image (smiling so much here) gives me enormous gratification to have the image so well received. Huge big thank you TO YOU ALL!!!
Colin Tobin
,
9 months ago
Wow Paul, this is on hell of an excellent and powerful tryptich. Your images convey your theme perfectly. This would be understoodeven without the included discription.
Kurt Tutschek, 9 months ago
fantastic combination of shots – a very impressive tryptich. beautiful work, Paul!
Chris Kuck, 9 months ago
great work !!!!! love it divided into 3’s
sweetscent62, 9 months ago
Great work Paul : ) I saw the images similar to Billyboy and Susan… as the soul ..perhaps a newborn…the man..and then the hardening that comes from living in this world being the armour that we all carry as protection. Wendy
fracturedfotos, 9 months ago
Definitely a piece of art. Love this Paul!!
jotography, 9 months ago
..the more clothed we are, the darker the spirit. Brilliant and powerful work.
Birgitta, 9 months ago
This is mind blowingly COOL.
Ouch!!
Suzanne German, 9 months ago
Hi again Paul…I have a bad habit of doing this….coming back again to finish the comments I start! This piece really deserves a proper comment I feel so I am going to do that.
Well…looking again at this 3-fold scene, it is absolutely a masterpiece! I mean..you have so many themes and layers and meanings running simultaneously here and it is so rich with meaning, feeling, and thought-provoking in its essence.
The first scene – beginning with the surface. The intricate detailed work on the armour which is so artistic in itself, making something that is intended to be inpenetrable, hard as steel and unyielding, delicate at the same time – a very nice touch.
The fact / notion that it (the armour) has been placed and fitted over an existing body – yours….(both figuratively and in reality when you created this work) – in other words your persona ,presents and immediate sense of strength and protection.
The second scene is open and raw and vulnerable. If the outer armour or your persona is what we see, then you have certainly allowed us in beneath the layers here – both visually and soulfully.
The way you are naked in the physical sense but also baring your self and your soul – so strong and yet so gentle – it’s truly beautiful. It speaks artistic and spiritual honesty!
It’s interesting how often the most vulnerable becomes the most strong – and how interwoven these two elements are – each containing its opposite – each unable to exist without its opposite in which it sees its reflected image and becomes what it is meant to be. (OK this has made me think deeply …a lot ...because it comes from such a very deep place in you.
The final scene….the misty, surreal and ethereal battle ground or burial place. Where the soul lays resting…but the soul being timeless, non-tangible and existing in its own reality, is not ever dead is it? So even if a soul of a man is in a distant field – even a battle field – it is still alive if you are honouring it. When I look at this amazing artwork you’ve created here Paul, I get the feeling that you have done exactly that – you have bared and honoured your soul!
This is a magnificant piece of work – powerfully spiritual and intensely real
Love it!
Suzanne
Rosalie Dale IPA, 9 months ago
Again I ‘read’ the storyboard from left to right, till I read your description. It works both ways. Stunning work.
coffeebean, 9 months ago
This is STUNNING work
Jessica Tremp, 9 months ago
came back to this…bloody hell Paul
Craig Goldsmith, 9 months ago
Masterfully crafted as always Paul, there is so much depth to this series of images. I’m very impressed.
Ruben Flanagan..., 9 months ago
Very Nice Paul,
Darren Sharp, 9 months ago
Great creation Paul you are a legend!
Travis Seale, 9 months ago
This is a very creative concept.
Tigeressly, 9 months ago
Great compostion, awesome! :-)
Daniela Reynos..., 9 months ago
Very powerful, amazing composition!
GerryMac, 9 months ago
outstanding work!
mary08, 9 months ago
Great concept, brilliant artwork !
mklau, 9 months ago
This image is just great. Like all of your work, a story emerges in the mind of the viewer…. no less than in mine. You’re a very talented artist
aner, 9 months ago
I love your work so much, its so inspiring and so original. You have work that sets itself aside from all others. So surreal just the same, I love it.
This is one of my favorite pieces of yours.
claire jones, 9 months ago
awesome image, one of my faves!
stuieD, 9 months ago
Probablt the best artist I know!!!
MuscularTeeth
,
9 months ago
wow incredible series of images there. !!
NOverton, 9 months ago
very well done
paulevelin, 9 months ago
love to see your work
so inspiring
Michael J Armijo, 9 months ago
This has a unique sense of POWER to it…Great work. ;)
Winslow357, 9 months ago
Great job Paul!
Sande Elkins, 8 months ago
Exceptional! Such a strong statement and beautifully created as well.
David Robinson, 8 months ago
I think it has all been said … but adding to the comments is a pleasure – it’s a fantastic image. Moving, creative and thought provoking. And the execution is fabulous! Great title as well … working from right to left the armour is stripped away leaving the spiritual … working from left to right the armour becomes the man and transforms him into the other …. the man in the machine … the bringer of death. Well …. just another brief interpretation to add to the rest!
Helen Bascom, 8 months ago
Hmmm, very interesting work.
The armor appears to protect the body, but in reality protects the inner man, the soul, from public view. Stripped of his armor, he is like every other man. Exposed every weakness and fear.
Great work Paul.
Jan Piller, 8 months ago
Gee everybody has already said so much, doesn’t really leave anything else to be said; Except my great respect for your beautiful work here.
AQUALINA, 8 months ago
I am going to throw the cat in amongst the pigeons and forewarn you that a lot of you especially women may not like what I am going to say, but well…this is our men that we are talking about here.
When I first saw this image it touched my heart in a way that I wasn’t quite sure about. I had to think about my feelings and digest before I had what to write.
It made me feel very sad for the state of the male in our society, and it is a feeling I have often. People have been talking about him in his armour being the bringer of death, a danger to the world, an imbalance and his aggression being something that we need to get ride off.
I don’t see this image or men like that, I see men have a quality of strength, power and a very subtle but true sense of balance that needs to be free, as it is in the contact that they have with their inner essence that they find their compassion and place in the world. I think men were made to fight and to conquer, and in that place lies their protective instinct and their nurturing qualities. Take that away from them and you have an insipid man who is pussy whipped, and on trial for his so called wrongs…for being a man. We take all these things from him and then complain as women: “where are the men, they are so weak and dependent on us”! We nag them for not speaking or expressing as we list of our list of complaints…and we wonder why!
We need men to be men, as I look around in society I see the lack of men in children’s lives everywhere and it is having a huge impact on society.
Why is this? I would think that feminism would say its because men are so aggressive and don’t love their kids but I think this is so far from the truth. I personally, (and am of course being overly simplistic for arguments sake, as this is a very complex argument), but I think it is because men can no longer be men, as women have taken over and stripped them of their balls along with the armour in an endeavour to over power them. It has been said by feminists that men fear the power of the womb and the vagina, but I also would say that women have a serious case of penis envy, and now the pendulum has swung back the other way.
Give me a man who is wild and free, who wears his suit of armour and battles for his ideals, his family and his country. Men no longer have anything to fight for, and feel they don’t have a purpose or ‘fit’, and so we are loosing them and our boys in the process, (look at suicide & road crash statistics, in fact look everywhere). Without our men our boys cant be boys and cant grow up to be the men we need them to be, strong independent and self-sufficient, and ready to fight for what is right and what they believe in.
I frequently see women say its so aggressive what boys do in the play yard…they shouldn’t fight or be rough and no swords or guns as its just not right!!! We have taken the identities of boys and men along with their armour.
This is our men, and we need to fight for them and their freedom as women, as in doing this we will understand the completeness of our femininity.
Go the mighty PENIS…!!!
AQUALINA, 8 months ago
and as an add: to tie it back into the image and what you Paul maybe have consciously or unconsciously stated but has not really been noted in the comments so far:
if you strip away the armour, then the man, you may only find a distant landscape bearing his soul.
and what is seen on that landscape, nothing.
As you can see there is not much left when we take away his role!
Bless men and their simplicity.
Paul Vanzella
in reply to AQUALINA’s comment,
8 months ago
Wow – this just blew me away… what an amazing retort and incredible perspective… Brilliant!
Velia Specchio, 8 months ago
Saint George where is your dragon?.....Love this evolution of character..power..
Amanda Hammock, 7 months ago
Absolutely love this. I have nothing deep or introspective to say other then brilliant.
Jaeda DeWalt, 7 months ago
This self-portrait is outstanding Paul!
Thought provoking and visually captivating, with poetic words -
that beckon to the soul.
but if you strip away the armour, then the man, you may only find a distant landscape bearing his soul. W O W
Jean M. Laffitau, 7 months ago
WOW! Fascinating!
Larasolnishko, 6 months ago
How strange, I missed that triptych image. It is very powerful but very simple piece of Art. I amused again and again how lovely females balanced male’s energy. Aqualina wrote things which verbally stimulate thinking. I love females on red bubbles; many of them have opened to themselves there amassing writing talents.
I think many women lost the art to be female and allowed man lead and rule the every day living. The happy couple is the one, where female is fine artist of relationship.
I wish Paul will create one more image, where female is a neck and man is her head.
It is her job trying to be flexible, turn him from left to right, allowed him to see things which only females soul can observed.
Paul Vanzella
in reply to Larasolnishko’s comment,
6 months ago
wow – love your insight into this piece… thank you for commenting!
Ben Herman, 4 months ago
good sequence, can imagine it in a film.
Paul Vanzella
in reply to Ben Herman’s comment,
4 months ago
thanks ben. one of my favourite concepts… love your comment!
Selina Trevorah, 4 months ago
Tha capture, the freedom, the desolation, the chest. Love it and instant fave
Paul Vanzella
in reply to Selina Trevorah’s comment,
4 months ago
wow Selina, thanks for th emphatic comment – love it! Thank you!
Michael Morrison, 2 months ago
love this tryptic work..the concept, statement, the text…excellent work.
Anthea Slade, about 1 month ago
This work is breathtaking and emotionally intense. Love the bold, raw and powerful impact of the work and the narrative that flows through the three images and etches in the imagination way beyond the viewing. Achingly beautiful Paul.