“Two luminous parallel marble slabs that hold and protect, almost like a maternal pelican, a multitude of ancient heads; relics and emblems of the sacred, of humanity, of totality”. (Claudio Parmiggiani)
Claudio Parmiggiani (b. 1943) is a leading contemporary Italian artist, whose predominantly conceptual research has always been carried out independently and through the use of different media.
This book illustrates his work in the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Gallarate, which was part of the liturgical adaptation and restoration campaign that focused on both the structure and decorations of the building. A scientific committee of art historians and members of the ecclesiastical community was commissioned to present a project for the refurbishment of the presbytery, and in this context Parmiggiani was asked to design and realise the platform, the new altar and the new ambo. The altar – a totally unique work – consists of a series of white onyx heads, copies of famous heads from antiquity, with a strong symbolic and spiritual value. Between two heavy slabs Parmiggiani, one of the most important, rigorous and retiring protagonists of the contemporary scene, accumulates a congerie of heads, copies of famous pieces from the history of art, from the Belvedere Apollo to the Virgin in Michelangelo’s Pietà and works by Bernini. The ambo, on the other hand, is a rhomboid of labradorite, a dark stone with intense metallic reflections. Both works have been documented by a photographic campaign specially created for this publication.
The numerous photos are accompanied by texts by authors such as Francesco Tedeschi, Emma Zanella, Giancarlo Santi and Andrea Dall’Asta, illustrating Parmiggiani, his works and this intervention specifically from an artistic but also a spiritual and liturgical point of view.
€ 32,00