PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES
PERSONAL WORKS
Over the course of a few years, I have performed some MEDITATIONS on sacred themes that have taken shape in the following works
"CRUCIFIED"
bronze on wood
h. cm. 30
year 2001
In this small bronze there is not a real cross but there is wood and a red fabric on which a golden triangle stands out.
The material of the wood therefore recalls the wood of the Cross; the red fabric recalls the Precious Blood of Jesus but also the cloth of the Shroud; the golden triangle means the "presence" on the Cross of the Holy Trinity.
"BURIED ALIVE"
terracotta
cm. 47x40
year 2005
I conceived, in this terracotta, Jesus seen as inside a white sepulchre.
But I gave the work a particular title, almost as a provocation towards modern man, as if to indicate that if we bury Jesus in our hearts, we bury ourselves because He is and remains alive.
"RESURRECTION"
patinated and polished bronze
h. cm.85
year 2001
In this bronze, made for my father's tomb, I imagined Jesus in
moment of his resurrection.
As if his "new" body emerged from the linen by piercing it, crossing it.
Some body parts of him have already surfaced and others are still covered.
I gave the sheet a greyish sheen to create the contrast with the shiny bronze in the body of Christ, so as to give the sense of the luminous body that detaches itself from the gray matter.
details of the clay model before casting in bronze
"ANNUNCIATION"
mixed technique on panel
cm.140 x 120
year 2001
It took me a long time to finish this painting because it was never clear to me how to make the background.
In my aesthetics the background has equal importance to the figures.
In this case the background was fundamental. In fact, the inspiration of how to make it came to me later when I have
since it could represent the Third Person of the Holy Trinity: the Holy Spirit, Spouse of Mary.
So I painted a midnight blue on which I inserted a golden wave that, from an iconographic point of view, takes the
place of the Dove, which is often seen in ancient paintings and which here wants to represent the "light wind" that is
it rests on the Virgin, fertilizing her, at the moment in which she says her "Yes" to God.
I like to meditate on the moment, on the moment when things happen. But what always surprises me about the action of God in "that moment" is the apparent simplicity of how things happen, his things; very complex things take place in an apparent naturalness, like the silence of Mary's "Yes" to the Holy Spirit, which has changed all of our human history.
Thus that moment, in this painting, becomes the very moment of the Incarnation of the Word, underlined by the Wind and by Mary's welcoming attitude, with her arms open and her face tilted back, in total abandonment, almost a ecstasy.
This idea is strengthened by the fact that Maria is suspended, does not rest, and her Wind leaves a gilding on her that spreads on the right side of her body. In fact, the painting could be titled INCARNATION.
The Virgin's dress was then made with the ancient rigatino technique: an infinite weaving of small lines create the sense of a precious but essential linen, without other enrichments.
“THE WORD BECAME FLESH”
mixed media on wooden board
cm. 65x200
year 2001
In this painting I have attempted to express the Incarnation of the Word.
The golden signs in the background are not part of a codified human language, but have the purpose of "evoking" the Word of God, that is, his Wisdom.
Of this we can only understand what has been revealed to us by God himself.
Hence the biblical reference to the Gospel according to John (1.14), placed in the golden stripe that runs through the entire painting from top to bottom:
“...And the Word became flesh
and he dwelt among us; and U.S
we saw his glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father,
full of grace and truth…”.
The Word is Christ who, with his Word, Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection, reveals God's plan of salvation for men.
The luminous band, white and gold, in the center represents the light that comes into the world. Christ is the true light.
The Child is naked. He wanted to assume our human nature.
We are often tempted to think of God as authority but, faced with a Child, we discover the greatness of a God who gave himself to man in his fragility
extreme and in need of a child.
The power of God which is expressed through the immolated Lamb.
"THE CITY"
bronze
cm. 85X110
year 2002
This bronze, of a certain size, was made on the occasion of a festival dedicated to the city of Cernusco sul Naviglio.
Hence the title "The City".
In fact, the city exists, but it can be seen in the reflection of Christ's eye, a symbol of his merciful gaze on the world.
Subsequently this work was given as a gift by the Church and by the citizens of Cernusco to Cardinal C. M. Martini, on the occasion of his last pastoral visit on August 3, 2002, before going to the Holy Land.
The Cardinal, in turn for practical and emotional reasons, left it in his memory to the Cernusco parish.
particular
"DEPOSITION"
with Psalm 22
acrylic on canvas
cm. 170x140
year 2004
This painting comes from a study done on the Holy Shroud.
With the help of the computer, I contrasted the image of the Sacred Cloth a lot in order to bring out all the wounds on our Lord's back (flagellation and erosion due to the weight of the Cross on his shoulders) and I then tried to paint them as faithfully as possible.
I inserted the deposition in a particular context: in the background, behind the torn veil, I wanted to paint it as a sort of gigantic golden apse in which the luminous cross stands out: a sign of salvation.
The apse would like to represent the royal majesty of God.
The Psalm is the one of which Jesus recited the first words on the Cross:
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
In embracing Christ, the Madonna covers His Face with her mantle, but in this way a sharing with His Death is generated: the two faces almost become one and even Mary's white fingers touch, almost enter, the wound of the shoulder.
It is a gesture, this of an embrace, of maternal love but also almost of welcoming the Son back again in that heart/womb that gave birth to it.
Wounds highlighted with the help of the computer
Holy Shroud
“CHRIST LIVES”
terracotta high relief
cm. 47x47
year 2008
WORK PERFORMED FOR THE NEW WINE ART GALLERY OF CUPRA MONTANA (AN)
This terracotta was made to participate in an initiative: the establishment of the wine gallery of Cupra Montana, in the province of Ancona.
But even in this case, as in the case of "La Città", I preferred to develop the theme in a religious key. Hence the work "Cristo Vite" was born, where the reference to the red of grapes and wine is precisely the Precious Blood of Jesus, and where the vine becomes "the vine" to which Christ referred in the Gospel.
"THE TENTA" -
mixed technique on panel: photography, painting, brocade;
cm. 100 x 125 -
Below is the letter received from my spiritual guide
shortly before my death: dear Don Piero, to whom I had sent
the image of the work.
Rest home of Casalbuttano, 10.VI.2011
Dearest Agostino, I am writing to you with the print you gave me on the occasion of my 83rd birthday before my eyes. Yes, at first glance, I liked it very much and you can see that there is an artist's hand behind it. The meaning that you yourself give it -
I read, in the part colored in black, the painful passion of Jesus which ends with that streak of blood which symbolizes the piercing of his side from which blood and water came out. Death immediately redeemed by the grace of the resurrection symbolized by the gold background: that fluttering curtain (beautiful!) depicts -
Of the ascension because on that day Jesus leaves the tent of his earthly home to return to the Father. Of the Resurrection because the vigorous wind of Pentecost invests it and sets it all in motion.
The SS. Trinity expressed by the 3 plants that almost sway on the green lawn of our existence destined to produce fruits of eternal life (love -
All expressed by the TENT, the dwelling of God in our heart.
Congratulations and greetings, to you and your beautiful family.
Don Piero.
“and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes -
cm. 180 X 140 -
The idea that inspired this work was human suffering: tears which, however, do not fall, are not lost, but go back to the gold of God becoming golden stars.
DETAIL OF THE TEARS, MADE OF TRANSPARENT RESIN, WHICH THEN TRANSFORM INTO STARS AS WE GO TOWARDS GOD
DETAILS of the drawings of suffering people of our day: from the fetus to the old man, to refugees, to violence ...
