SACRED ART THROUGH PRIVATE COMMISSIONS AND THE VERSATILITY OF MARIANI ART

SACRED ART THROUGH PRIVATE COMMISSIONS AND THE VERSATILITY OF MARIANI ART

To recreate an intimate and spiritual place in a Swiss Valley

Throughout western history, Art and the Sacred have always been linked by a double thread, two worlds that have given life to some of the greatest works created by man.

The project commissioned by a private client involves designing decorations concerning the life cycle of the Virgin Mary along the walls of a Prayer Chapel.

Hand-made rendering of the rooms

Our team of Art Masters collaborated with the client to redesign some classic works by Italian Renaissance Masters according to the size of the location, also managing to reinterpret the original technical execution adapting it to the more versatile wall execution in tempera.

Just as in the 15th century churches and private chapels of Florence, the visual narrative unfolds in a sequence, standing out on the wall along a “narrative strip” depicting the most important episodes in the life of Mary, mother of Jesus.

The setting up of the site, our Art Masters at work

 

The works were carried out on site in Switzerland, a beautiful source of inspiration for readapting the landscapes of the paintings, replacing the gentle hills of Tuscany and central Italy with the more angular and enveloping peaks of the Engadin Valley, also paying homage to the architecture of the neighbouring countries whose roofs are typical of those found beyond the alps, exactly as requested by the client, who is very fond of these places of peace.

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Detail of the redesigned landscapes, replaced by those of the Engadin Valley

These works were inspired by great artists such as Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Perugino (to which is also added a native of these mountain areas, but whose name is still unknown) and run along the four sides of the room.

The protagonists of the Chapel are the Crucifixion by Perugino and the Coronation of the Virgin Mary by Ghirlandaio, which stand on opposite sides of each other.

Above the entrance door we find the graceful and delicate coronation, while the viewer’s gaze is welcomed by the sobriety and magnificence of the Cross, the pain of the Saints and the Pious Women.

                                                  Front view of the left narrative strip

View of the Marian Chapel

Mary and Elizabeth, detail of one of the squares belonging to the lateral narrative strip

Madonna and Bambino inspired by Botticelli, painted in a side niche

Madonna and Child by Botticelli, painted in tempera on the wall

Annunciation, detail of one of the squares belonging to the lateral narrative strip

The Pietà by an unknown artist from the Engadin Valley

The decoration of the vaulted ceiling was inspired by the medieval period, as underlined by the ultramarine blue background, dotted with golden stars that brings to mind another immortal work, that of Giotto’s Chapel of the Scrovegni in Padova.

In the centre of the ceiling, the dove of the Holy Spirit blazes like a fire, under whose protection has been placed the traditional dark wood kneeler.

 

The end of the Crucifixion, detail with kneeler

The Holy Spirit represented according to traditional iconography

Ceiling of the Chapel with the classic vaulted architecture

Giotto-style sky painted on the ceiling

Coronation of the Virgin Mary, painted above the entrance door

Despite the almost total lack of natural light, our artists have been able to make the colours of the paintings stand out, thus creating a relaxed contrast between the shadows of the rooms and the colours of the tempera, a union that arouses a sense of meditation, security and intimacy typical of a Christian chapel.

A new Plato’s cave in which the shadows of the world are reflected, a spiritual Hyperuranium that only becomes visible by freeing yourself from the chains and looking upwards towards the sky.

For any question and info please call 030/316096 or write to info@marianiaffreschi.com

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