Head of an Apostle 1519 - Raphael Sanzio

Painting is a pleasure, above all, and it is from here that the work of Cosimo Geracitano (Replicas of Great works of Art) is derived: pure and simple pleasure, imbued with a voracious curiosity about the emotional aspects and life experiences of the great masters of the past. Cosimo Geracitano (Replicas of Great works of Art) was born and raised in a small town called Bivongi, in the mountains of Calabria, Italy. Now currently residing in Coquitlam, British Columbia, he has transformed his home into a gallery that imitates a museum one would find in Italy, a very familiar and nostalgic environment for Cosimo. His gallery not only exhibits paintings but also his own original sculptures in Carrara marble and jade.

Research, observation, and knowledge are the starting points for experimenting with the accurate reproduction of works of art from the past. Accurately reproducing a work from the past satisfies a twofold desire: It keeps alive the memory of the visit to the museum or gallery, the memory of being in the presence of a great work of art, and it allows us to have our own replica to add to other paintings we may have collected and displayed proudly on our walls. The difference between a perfect replica and a simple print on paper or even canvas is enormous. We are able to touch and caress the painted surface, feel the material, and breathe in the odor of oil pastels and the metallic scent of graphite and charcoal. So intense is the perception of a work of art through the simultaneous use of our senses that it strengthens our desire to own a copy as accurate and similar to the original as possible. This was the impulse that pushed Cosimo Geracitano to put himself to the test with the difficult and complicated 'art of reproduction,' a challenge that has produced many magnificent replicas of great paintings by artists from the past, from Leonardo to Van Gogh, from Constable to Renoir.