A Grey Day
The work represents a gray winter day in which the light creates an optical effect whereby the tree appears blue, but it is an illusion, in fact, in reality the landscape is all grey.
The blue tree represents a powerful metaphor on the limits of power and the irrepressibility of freedom.
The artist's idea comes from the winter solstice, the exact moment that marks the astronomical transition from autumn to winter and which occurs when the Sun, in its apparent motion along the ecliptic, is exactly above the Tropic of Capricorn and at the minimum height above the horizon.
Stones used: Lapislazzuli, Viana Green, Grey from Carrara.
Year of composition:2024
Size: cm 30.5x48
Artist: Leonardo Scarpelli
An original and authentic hand-made artwork created whith the antique technique of Commesso Fiorentino which is unique for Florence.
Commesso Fiorentino was born with Medici family, one of the most important families in Florence, in the second half of 1500.
The research of the stones is made by the mosaicist that must be able to choose from a rich and wide range of shades and veins: for this reason the artists personally search and collect the stones retracing the paths of the Medici researchers.
The processing starts by drawing the subject on adhesive paper, that is then cut into small tamplates that will be attached to the variegated shades of the stones following the visual instinct, the innate gift of the artist and his perfect knowledge of the materials. The shape of the little piece will be cut by hand with a chestnut, cherry or hazelnut wood bow and an iron wire that flows with abrasive powder and water. It creates a very precise and inclined cut to form the essential spaces to accommodate the glue, made by artisans with beeswax and pine tree resin. The different stones are previously glued onto a slate surface which acts as a support during the cutting and filing phase. The various pieces which form the composition are adjusted in shape with diamond files, glued together so that the joints are invisible, flattened and finally polished in order to create a perfect decorative harmony showing the colors of nature in all their radiance.