It opened today in Siena “Passions in the Field”, the exhibition by Giovanni Gasparro, among the major contemporary authors and author of the Drappellone del Palio of 2 July, dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano. For the occasion, the Municipality of Siena oversaw the creation of the exhibition dedicated to the painter from Bari which will be held until to July 7 on three locations: the main one of the Magazzini del Sale (Palazzo Pubblico), Palazzo Sansedoni and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria in Provenzano.
The artist and his works
Gasparro, born in Bari in 1983, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 2007 and in 2009 he held his first solo exhibition in Paris. In 2011 the Archdiocese of L’Aquila commissioned 19 works from him for the Basilica of San Giuseppe Artigiano (13th century), damaged by the 2009 earthquake, which constitute the largest pictorial cycle of sacred art created in recent years.
His works are exhibited in important public and private collections European and American, as well as in various Italian churches and basilicas (Siena, Trani, Rome, Turin, Gallipoli and L’Aquila) and abroad (Malta, Switzerland, Greece, Austria and USA). Also in 2021 he won the 100 Italian excellences award in the Campidoglioin Rome, and inaugurated the portrait of HM the King of Spain Felipe VI of Bourbon for the Royal Pontifical Basilica of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Naples.
Gasparro’s relationship with the divine and the bond with Siena
The widespread exhibition “Passioni in Campo” aims to enhance Gasparro’s new way of representing the divine, which inspired by the realist painting of artists of the caliber of Caravaggio and Guercino, he has the merit of renewing sacred painting with an absolutely personal and passionate interpretation. The Drappellone created by Gasparro for the Cittini Palioan event dedicated to children and included among the events that mark the days of the Sienese festival.
“In Siena I immediately felt welcome – explained Giovanni Gasparro – pThis is why I tried to carry out everything with extreme rigor, respecting the traditions and history of this city. I wanted to demonstrate the profound respect I feel for Siena both in the Palio dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano and in the Palio dei Cittini and I believe the city is perceiving it. I thank the mayor for choosing him and for the trust he placed in me, in a certain sense after the works donated to the Collegiate Church of Provenzano this moment represents the closing of a circle for me”.
