BRINDISI – This morning, in the “Sala Capitello” of Palazzo Nervegna, in Brindisi, a press conference was held to present the work “Smiling at Humanity”, created by the Neapolitan artist Francesco Filippelli. Work commissioned by the Southern Adriatic Sea Port System Authority (AdSPMAM) to enrich the artistic heritage of the city of Brindisi.
The press conference was attended by the president of the Port Authority, Ugo Patroni Griffi, the mayor of Brindisi, Giuseppe Marchionna, the archbishop of the Brindisi-Ostuni Diocese, Mons. Giovanni Intini, the Maritime Director of Puglia and Ionian Basilicata, Admiral Vincenzo Leone , the vice-president of the Province of Brindisi, Antonella Vincenti, the president of the Permanent Regional Committee of Civil Protection, representing the Puglia Region, Maurizio Bruno and the Neapolitan artist who created the painting. Furthermore, numerous regional and local authorities were present.
The aim of the initiative is to provide Brindisi with a work of art capable of recalling and celebrating the great humanitarian impetus that the city and the port have shown over the centuries towards populations in difficulty, above all so that future generations can keep its memory .
Not only. At the same time, in fact, the painting will enrich the already vast historical-architectural and artistic heritage of the area, becoming a tangible sign of promotion and enhancement of the port-city combination and its cruise port, given the peculiar characteristic of the work.
The portrait, in fact, thanks to the use of some special pigments, invented and patented by the artist himself, transforms under particular temperature conditions, showing a different image. This effect can create great curiosity and amazement in those who witness the transformation.
“We thought of a work of art that, in addition to telling stories and evoking emotions, can enrich the attractiveness and contribute to increasing the appeal of the area – comments President Patroni Griffi. The art of this painter, young and innovative, is not only an element of aesthetic beauty, but a magnet that will attract visitors and curious people, leveraging a classic painting which, thanks to “alchemical” processes, manages to transform. A further stimulus for the local economy and a vigorous impetus capable of strengthening community identity. Alongside all this – concludes the president – there is the significant message that the painting conveys: Smiling at Humanity is a universal invitation to welcome, solidarity and peace”.
“I thank President Patroni Griffi for this tribute to the City, which tends to confirm once again the historical importance of Brindisi and its port in the Mediterranean basin – comments Mayor Marchionna. Francesco Filippelli’s painting will enter the candidacy dossier for Italian Capital of Culture 2027, as evidence of the link we intend to confirm with our history, while we plan the initiatives we implement to organize our future”.
“I think that a city like Brindisi, which boasts one of the most historically important ports in Italy, and which in past centuries marked the arrival point of the Appian Way, symbolizes in itself a place where humanity arrives after a long journey , and it is accepted – declares the Artist. Precisely for this reason I wanted to represent a child from behind, without a recognizable face, so that everyone can recognize themselves in that child and receive the look and smile of a mother, a symbol of universal welcome”.
The work, on the occasion of the G7, a world event in which the Heads of State and Government of the 7 most industrialized nations in the world will participate, which will bring with it wide coverage by the international press and during the cruise season will be hosted in the rooms of Palazzo Nervegna; subsequently, it will be moved to the port, to the premises of the System Authority, so that citizens and visitors can freely enjoy it.
Insight into the work of Francesco Filippelli
Francesco Filippelli was born in Naples on 2 October 1993, he graduated in Chemistry from the University of Naples “Federico II”. His works appear in various Italian and foreign contemporary art magazines. He designed and then patented the “Alchemic Temporama” technique in 2021. In fact, his paintings are transformed through special reagents and pigments, invented by him. Some become younger, other figures age. The Madonna, depicted in Smiling at Humanity, opens with a sweet and measured smile of welcome.
The idea, of the president of AdSPMAM Ugo Patroni Griffi, was born from the Madonna of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the British author who recounted his conversion to Catholicism, following his visit to Brindisi, returning from the Holy Land, where he had gone with the aim of writing a book of a religious and historical nature. Having landed in the port of Brindisi on 4 April 1920, Chesterton, an Anglican, said he had seen a brightly colored icon of the Madonna in the port and in front of it he promised to convert to Catholicism once he returned home.
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