Il Rito 2016

Roberto Ferri made this oil painting, “Il Rito,” with an impressive use of chiaroscuro. Just imagine Ferri layering those deep browns and muted grays, building up the figures from shadow to light. I can almost feel the artist’s hand, how he might have wrestled with the forms, adding detail, then softening edges, always striving to capture the drama of these two figures entwined. Did he start with a sketch? Or dive right in, letting the paint guide him? Look at the intense emotion of their embrace. The dark spider crawling on the chest of the fallen man; the light caressing the face of the winged figure. Does the artist refer to Caravaggio, or is he in conversation with contemporary anxieties around identity, desire, or mortality? Artists are always talking to each other, you know, across generations. I love that this painting holds so much ambiguity, allowing us to bring our own experiences and ideas to it.