The (fallen) angels by Anselm Kiefer: the exhibition to see in Florence

^Lor let’s confess right away: German Anselm Kiefer he is our favorite living artist. And so as soon as we heard that he was going to open his own great exhibition here in Italy, we rushed to Florence to see her. Anselm Kiefer Fallen Angels (until July 21st, perfect to visit during these Easter holidays) set up in the Renaissance spaces of Strozzi Palace with the care of the director Arturo Galansino It’s not something to be taken lightly. We are enchanted by every single work, and are a little stunned. We then thought of one mini-guide (in fact, you can already find one on display, very well done, in Italian and English) for those works in front of which it is worth staying a few minutes longer (and yes, even taking photographs, although they are of such large dimensions that some nice photos with our cell phones is a challenge).

Just five minutes from the Santa Maria Novella station, dodging the crowds of tourists that are swarming more than usual in Florence in recent weeks, here we are in front of Palazzo Strozzi: we enter the entrance and immediately the cloister welcomes us Englessturz, (The Fall of the Angel: Kiefer always uses German for the titles of his works), one mammoth installation seven by eight meters made with the most varied materials. Above, the most precious gold leaf, down common clothes (we recognized some tracksuits, a jacket, some jeans, some items from fast fashion)all treated by the artist with a method top secret which makes them rigid and malleable together. What the work represents is immediately clear: above an angel, Saint Michael (the name is written at the top right, in Hebrew) with his finger raised hunts – as the texts of theApocalypse – the rebellious angels from Heaven. Kiefer, 79 years old, a German who has now moved to France for thirty years (in his gigantic studio on the outskirts of Paris he reconstructed the rooms of Palazzo Strozzi on a one-to-one scale to be able to decide down to the millimeter which works to bring to Florence), he said he was inspired by a painting by Luca Giordano, an Italian Baroque artist, who saw at the Museum of Cadiz, Spain. In this work which reflects the struggle between good and evil, between spirit and matter, it seems to us that we are all a bit fallen angelswith everyday clothes.

Let’s go up to first floor of Palazzo Strozzi, where the rest of the exhibition continues. Obligatory stop in the second room, which shines with gold. There is a work by Kiefer from several years ago, Sol Invictusfrom 1995, is the black and white one below, in which sunflowers they are not yellow but now black, with i ripe seeds, and they fall (literally: the paint is a paste with seeds of the plant) on a lying man. Next to it, a work also dedicated to sunflowers, among those that Anselm Kiefer created a few months ago: the entire background is golden, gigantic sunflowers celebrate light and life (how can we not think of those, so different, of Van Gogh?). Kiefer is super-cultured and for those who want to delve deeper into the references we add that it is a cycle of works that he dedicated to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known as Heliogabalusa young and controversial Roman emperor of the third century (he was murdered by the Praetorians in a conspiracy!) who wanted to introduce the cult of the Sun god to Rome.