Taboo

Year of composition: 2024

Size: cm 38x38,5

Artist: Leonardo Scarpelli

The magnetic gaze that the girl gives us allows us to develop different possible interpretations of the painting, and it is precisely this characteristic that makes it so engaging.

After all, the eyes are the most expressive part of the face and the mirror of the soul, a sort of portal between the material and spiritual world, between the conscious and the unconscious, between rationality and magic and for many civilizations of various eras and various latitudes they have been the object of artistic and symbolic representations. 

In fact, the girl is represented with an almost cartoonish look as if she were the protagonist of a comic. 

This is a Black and White representation but, unlike the common representation made using black on white, this one is made using the black on a white background.

Black and white in the art of portraits have the power to generate immediate tension, to communicate without the need for further intermediaries other than themselves.

White and black represent the synthesis or absence of all colours, they are in fact ascribed to the range of achromatic values, they are the opposite of each other. The wrinkles of an elderly face, the penetrating gaze of an artist or the tenderness of a hug become protagonists of the image. 

The black and white images defy the passage of time. While color images can reveal the era in which they were taken, black and white images remain timeless. This aspect makes this art form particularly suitable for immortalizing significant moments that cross temporal barriers, delivering them to eternity.

The use of black and white gives the photographs a touch of drama and mystery. Images can convey a sense of nostalgia or a feeling of mystery, prompting viewers to reflect on the hidden meaning behind each shot.

The particularly of this artwork is that the only color that immediately catches the eye is the red of the lips of the girl. The color red is the color that in nature we associate with different elements; we associate red with fire and blood, in a more symbolic, metaphorical way, we associate red with love, with passion. Red expresses the intensity of emotions and intensity in its graphic expression; this intensity will be associated mainly with frustration, anger, or with love, with the serenity experienced.

Stones used: Afyon Onix, Belgium Black Marble and Egyptian Red Diasper.

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.