Silvestro Pistolesi - Sant'Apollonia

Portraiture is one of the most widespread artistic expressions, especially in painting, but also in sculpture, throughout the ages. Portraiture is, first and foremost, a description of the depicted subject, an attempt to capture their physiognomy and individual characteristics truthfully and naturally. With the progressive evolution of artistic research, the physiognomic description of the subject has also been accompanied by a psychological one. Therefore, over the centuries, portraiture has also become a means of introspective investigation of the subject, their character, and their state of mind. The processes of abstraction brought about by contemporary art have contributed to this type of investigation. In this interpretation of the Christian martyr Saint Apollonia, Silvestro Pistolesi does not draw inspiration from the saint's traditional iconography but offers a completely realistic interpretation inspired by life drawing.

Especially in his portraits, we can see the profound impact of the teachings of master Pietro Annigoni on Silvestro Pistolesi's development. A strong classical influence is consistent, aimed at reviving the great Italian pictorial tradition, founded on a total naturalistic rendering through the application of color in glazes and the use of ancient techniques such as, in this case, the tempera grassa used in this reproduction. Silvestro Pistolesi, with his excellent life drawing technique, is capable of achieving a remarkable level of formal purity. The facial features are depicted with great truth in a soft and smooth manner. The contours are undefined, thanks to a sfumato that allows the subject to interact naturally with the space. In this way, the subject's face is characterized by an extraordinary mobility of features, which consequently makes the figure alive and expressive. The choice of colors tends toward monochrome, but we can still appreciate the interplay of shadows and lights that enhance the subject's volumetric consistency.

Silvestro Pistolesi is a Florentine painter born in 1943. He trained in Pietro Annigoni's studio, where he remained for ten years, mastering the techniques typical of the Renaissance tradition that made the great master famous: the use of tempera and glazes. His first solo exhibition was in London in 1972, followed by several shows not only in Italy but also abroad. In 1967 and 1974, he created his first frescoes, "The Supper at Emmaus" and "The Old Woman," in the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Ponte Buggianese, followed by his more famous works in the Abbey of Montecassino in May 1993.

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