Fiorenza Metafisica
Giorgio de Chirico is sitting on a bench in Piazza Santa Croce, in Florence. It's a nice autumn afternoon, but he's not feeling so well. "The hot and strong autumn sun blazes over the statue and the facade of the church. Suddenly I have the strange impression of looking at those things for the first time, and the composition of the painting reveals itself to my mind's eye."
"The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon", from 1909, is de Chirico's first metaphysical work where he tries to express in a painting the great silence of the world, and its enigma.
Et quid amabo nisi quod aenigma est?
This series of black and white photos was taken in Florence, some during lockdown and others simply in the very early morning, and is inspired by metaphysical poetics: deserted spaces, absorbed statues, foreshortened columns in chiaroscuro, strange reflections, blocked movements, mysterious indistinguishable shadows cast on the walls.
And so, let's also start in Piazza Santa Croce.
