Apollo E Dafne 2020

Roberto Ferri made "Apollo E Dafne" with oil paint on canvas, a technique that stretches back centuries. This isn't some disposable image; it's built layer by layer, a slow, deliberate construction. Look closely and you'll see how the material itself shapes the story. The smooth, almost polished surface of the figures gives them an idealized, godlike quality. Ferri is working in an established tradition, continuing the lineage of classical and baroque painting. But don't be fooled by the beautiful surface. Ferri, who was born in 1978, is not just copying the old masters; he is engaging with them, bringing their techniques into the 21st century. Oil paint, with its capacity for luminosity and drama, becomes a way to talk about timeless themes, desire, and transformation. It reminds us that materials and methods are never neutral; they carry history with them.