Mead is repainting some of the most famous pictures and people in history, only with a twist. His paintings are a tribute to the Masters yet he includes vibrant colors and techniques that were not avaliable to the original artists. It's what they might paint if the Masters were alive today.
Famous artists of the Renaissance Peroid such as Michelangleo and Leonardo da Vinci learned painting by reproducing famous paintings of the period both learning and adding their own techniques. Mead is following in the tradition of the greats honing his skills as he reinterprets famous people and paintings of the past.