06 ASTI

PALIOTTO

Altar frontal, 13 th -14 th century

This stone frontal, dating back to the 14 th century, once in the church of San Pietro in Consavia, is now kept in the Museo di Sant'Anastasio. Since its iconography is the same as the one on the coeval French frontals, this work was attributed to an unknown French artist. The figure of Christ stands in the centre and on His sides there are the Virgin Mary, Saint Peter, the evangelists' symbols and other saints. The frame shows rosettes on its sides and birds, vine-branches and grapes in the upper part. The lower part and the original polychromatic decoration are missing. This work is made of two slabs perfectly matching one upon the other. The quality of sculpture is much more refined in the upper part, so that the lower seems never to have been completed. The “linear” gothic style reminds of the sculptures in the southern portal of the Asti cathedral, themselves similar to those visible in the French cathedrals of Poitiers and Bordeaux.

EMILIANO ALFIERI

Emiliano Alfieri was born in Asti in 1974. He graduated in Scenography from the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin.He made sceneries for travelling shows for the town of Asti. He put up solo exhibitions and took part in several group exhibitions. He was invited to show his works in the Korpuffstadir Gallery in Reykjavik. One of his works is still exhibited in this gallery in the capital city of Iceland.

Ego eimi ,
Polychrome terracotta, 70cm x 40 cm.

PALIOTTO

Altar frontal, 13 th -14 th century

DIEGO ZANGIROLAMI

Diego Zangirolami was born in Turin in 1984. He took his diploma from the Liceo Artistico Cottini in Turin, where he followed the Architecture course. He is an expert in computer graphic, a field in which he won many competitions . He made the scenery for the project “Identità e differenza“ 2002 for the town of Turin. kkeope@libero.it

Opus magister arcorum,
Polymateric installation, cm.90x113x70, print on forex, cm.200 x cm.300

ASTI

	CRIPTA E MUSEO DI SANT'ANASTASIO Corso Alfieri 365/A tel. 0141/437454 EMILIANO ALFIERI DIEGO ZANGIROLAMI

critical text by Giulio Lucente Even if Even if Emiliano Alfieri and Diego Zangirolami did not consult before creating their works, they turned out to be in tune with each other as far as the expressive line is concerned, though they are characterised by opposed guiding principles.Alfieri analysed the frontal, its historical context and its symbolic meaning. He studied its composition, resolving it into its components and then focused his attention on the rhythmical play of the saints' hands and particularly of Christ's hands. He has driven the analysis of the components to its extremes, offering them back to the viewers' eye in a contemporary shape with a refined sculptural evolution, which enhances the volumetric potential of a work that was conceived as flat and turns it into a piece with soft and sinuous volumes and forms.On the contrary, Zangirolami reinterprets from an archaic point of view a typically contemporary concept, the icon of success, the ephemeral myth, which a certain popular and populistic culture seems to be fond of. He sets the figure of the football player or the movie star beside what could or rather should be the medieval inspiring model: the knight, the saint, the martyr. With a clever use of computer graphics, he creates a “sticker album” which he leaves on a table for whoever wants to flip through it, comparing the values of the time to those that we have elevated to the rank of modern icons, judging which ones are more uplifting.The room also houses a large panel (elaborated with a computer) that works as a big fresco, always following the line of turning the ancient works into contemporary art with the help of techniques that are not necessarily traditional. In the end, these artists' work cannot be inscribed within a perspective of reprise or d'apres , but within a contemporary path leading unequivocally to the creation of a work of art using the tools we have at our disposal and a forma mentis constantly evolving towards the creation of works of art which are creatures of our times.