French impressionist artist Edgar Degas once said: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

Hugo Keenan personified those words in the dying embers of The British & Irish Lions’ Second Test match against Australia at the MCG on Saturday.

Trailing by two points with less than a minute to go, the 29-year-old saw the tryline and dived over like it was his life’s mission.

In doing so, the Leinster man allowed everyone else to see much more than a five-point score.

Those of a Lions persuasion witnessed glory, relief and a series victory. For those supporting the Wallabies, dejection and agony was all they could get a glimpse of.

Art, like sport, can be beautiful, and it can be cruel.

Keenan’s last few strides, his legs covering the turf like brush strokes on a canvas, added the finishing touches to a Lions masterpiece.

And hours earlier, Ben Mosley, the official travelling artist of the Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Tour to Australia had just finished a masterpiece of his own: Lions at the MCG.

The piece, comprised of acrylic and 24k gold on canvas, depicted the starting XV at the world-renowned venue, and was painted during the Lions Den event at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

The artwork is part of the collection that Mosley has been commissioned to produce by the Lions while out in Australia.

The 43-year-old, who has been an artist for the past 22 years, described his ongoing time Down Under as the “greatest honour” of his career.

“It’s very humbling and I’m extremely grateful to have been asked to do this,” he said.

“To be the artist that's created work, celebrating a tour win in Australia when it means so much to the players and the fans that have come all this way, it's just a terrific honour. It’s something that I’m extremely proud of and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

“Hopefully, the series of paintings of the series win in Australia will become historical documents in years to come.”

Mosley, who hails from Baldock in Hertfordshire, has previously been the official artist for Team GB, being on the ground at the 2012, 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, as well as working alongside teams such as Manchester United and producing work at Wembley Stadium.

He is no stranger to some of the most famous sporting venues in the world, but Mosley has been blown away by the passion from the travelling fans, known as the ‘Sea of Red’, he has witnessed.

“Coming out here, you realise how special it is, the pride that goes with it and how much it means to people,” he explained.

Mosley has been working at a variety of venues whilst being on tour with the Lions, including the two Lions Den events, the first at the Brisbane Convention Centre alongside the one in Melbourne, and at the InterContinental hotel, also in Victoria’s largest city.

And it was at the latter that Mosley crafted a piece called ‘Roar of the Lion’, an experience that he said just shades it as his most enjoyable so far.

“There’s been a tremendous atmosphere everywhere we’ve been, but my favourite one so far was at the InterContinental because I got to speak to some of the players,” he said.

“I met Pierre [Schoeman], he was brilliant [and] really nice, [he] came over and saw what I was doing, and Fin Smith spoke to me while I was there, and they seemed to like the work that I did.”

As is the case for the Lions players, the big occasions are what Mosley looks forward to the most.

He described how the energy of a crowd feeds into his work, which can take between three to six hours when being done at a live event, and that he uses sketches he has previously drawn as reference points.

“The live paintings require me to paint very quickly; it's almost like jazz, in terms of its improvisation,” he continued.

“I've been doing live painting now at huge events for 14 years, and all the experience I’ve gained helps me cope with it. I use the buzz and the atmosphere, and it shows in the work.

“You're painting non-stop and you're doing rather than thinking, you don't have time to think and that pushes me to produce my best work.

“I’m keen to celebrate the camaraderie of the Lions, the way they come together and the way that rugby brings people together too.

“I also look at the shapes and patterns of the architecture and bring it all together. And being able to paint live in front of the Lions fans is excellent because it gives me a platform to perform with my art and show people what I can do.”

Thanks to Keenan’s last-gasp heroics at the MCG, the Lions will travel to Sydney in an unfamiliar position, chasing a series whitewash.

Not since 1997 have the Lions been presented with such an opportunity – ultimately going onto lose the third Test of that series against South Africa – while the last time the fabled touring side won three Tests against a single nation, that too being against the Springboks, was 51 years ago.

Andy Farrell’s men have certainly created history with their exploits at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium and the MCG, but more of it awaits. They could become the first Lions side in the professional era to go unbeaten when on the ground in either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

And while Mosley, who will be painting with members of the squad on Thursday, now has a steer on the subject matter he’ll be putting onto canvas during the rest of his time in Australia, he, like the rest of the Lions faithful, is hoping 2-0 becomes 3-0 and will be doing his bit to give the team an edge.

He added: “It helps knowing we won the second Test, because it then means the painting I do with the players can be about their achievements and the fact that they've won the series.

“But obviously we want to win 3-0, so I will be looking to create a painting that can hopefully inspire them.”