Lights All Askew in the Heavens

So! Luthier Peter White and I are finally to the painting stage on the copy of the Amati viola that we began making several months ago. I carved the scroll on this instrument (my very first scroll), but this is the arena in which I'm much more comfortable.

Applying the design itself was easy--though the aging requires a little more thought, I've found. After a bit more antiquing (read: scratching and scraping away) of the medallion, comes the lettering, which is the real challenge for this thing. Gold leaf is still terra incognita for me.