Gregorio Sciltian - Vanitas

The iconography of this painting certainly has allegorical meanings and can be defined, in some ways, as symbolist precisely because of its allusion to underlying meanings. It is a type of subject that can be traced back to the artistic language of late nineteenth-century painters such as Moreau, Bocklin, or Puvis des Chavannes, who, despite using a substantially figurative language, developed intellectually complex iconographies, full of symbolic and allegorical references.

Gregorio Sciltian's style focuses heavily on enhancing the plastic qualities of objects. The painter highlights volumes, emphasizes them with drawing, and highlights them with even lighting throughout the composition. In this way, the surfaces appear to be made of some precious, shiny material. Precisely for the purpose of fully enhancing plasticity, Sciltian eliminates any pictorial effect, achieving a style that can be described as hyperrealist, in which, however, the study of Caravaggism and Flemish painters also plays a fundamental role.

Gregorio Sciltian, Italianized for Grigoriy Ivanovich Shiltyan (Rostov, 1900 – Rome, 1985), was an Armenian painter. In 1919, following the October Revolution, he left Russia and settled in Constantinople. His style took shape in the 1920s, when he returned to classical figuration, studying the works of the Italian Renaissance at the Academy and in the museums of Vienna. In 1923, he moved to Italy; he opened a studio in Rome and participated in the Second Rome Biennale in 1925. Roberto Longhi presented his solo exhibition at the Bragaglia art house. The critic emphasizes the distinctiveness of a painting style that revisits the Caravaggesque and Flemish traditions with a realism of impressive photographic fidelity: a lenticular perfection achieved with a compact palette and a technique borrowed from ancient painting.

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