Ugo Riva - The Cross of Life

A popular iconography throughout the history of Western art, the Crucifixion has its origins in the early Christian era and has developed over the centuries, culminating in the most recent expressions of contemporary art. The traditional iconography of Jesus on the cross has countless variations, from the simplest, featuring only the crucified Christ, to the version accompanied by the "mourners," the Madonna and Saint John the Evangelist. In the Middle Ages, Crucifixion scenes began to become increasingly elaborate: thieves' crosses were added, and gradually more and more figures were added, until they became the subject of large choral scenes. It is often accompanied by symbolic elements, such as the presence of the sun and moon or Adam's skull beneath Christ's cross (which signifies the redemptive action of Christ's Passion in the face of original sin).

Throughout his career, Ugo Riva's research has focused on recovering the art of the past and reinterpreting it with a contemporary sensibility. In particular, Riva has always looked to classical art, whether Greek, Roman, or Renaissance, as a model, which he reinterprets here in an elegant, classicist-style bas-relief. The artist's language, however, is contemporary. The form is synthetic, expressionist; in particular, Christ's body is unnaturally elongated, lending the representation a strong verticality. Even the conception of space transcends the laws of perspective.

Ugo Riva, a Bergamo-born sculptor born in 1951, has always focused his artistic career on figurative art. Starting from the study of ancient classicism, he developed a masterful technique in the naturalistic rendering of subjects and anatomical precision. His attention later shifted to contemporary sculptors such as Giacomo Manzù, Arturo Martini, and Marino Marini, developing a pursuit of expressionist values ​​and a poetics of the "unfinished."

The transaction takes place with maximum security for both the seller and the buyer. We take care of the conformity (provenance, authenticity, state of conservation) of the work and handle the shipping.
Returns are possible no later than 14 days after receiving the order.