In preparation for his extravagant murals in public and
private buildings around the world, Catalan painter José María Sert often
turned to photography as a means of studying and copying figures seen from
daring perspectives. Gridded to help enlarge the forms to mural size, this
photograph of Sert’s assistant Leonard Mancini likely served as a study for his
murals at Kent House, London, in which figures

seem to float high above the room like a heavenly vision.