The Imperial Basilica of Santa Croce al Chienti, an ancient architectural jewel located in Italy, serves as the setting for a pictorial cycle of eighteen works where contemporary art evokes a famous medieval legend of love, death, and redemption. Invited to translate into images the story of the knight Lotario and his beloved Imelda, the journey unfolds through twelve canvases dedicated to the narrative of events and six panels focused on the figures of the protagonists, offering an immediate and deeply emotional interpretation.
The style deliberately renounces detailed historical reconstructions or the pageantry of feudal life to focus on the dramatic essence of the tale. By choosing to apply the acrylic paint directly with the fingers and eliminating the mediation of the brush, the images come together on the surface through a formal synthesis and an executive speed that evokes an almost archaic language. This physical and immediate contact with the medium creates summary marks and sharp flashes of color, capable of alternating lyrical tension with a subtle and original caricatured tone. Exhibited precisely within the millenary walls of the abbey whose foundation is linked to Lotario’s remorse and subsequent hermitic choice, these paintings create a unique dialogue between past and present, demonstrating how an ancient myth can vibrate with a totally modern sensibility.
Text by Luce
Imelda, a beautiful young woman and daughter of a wealthy lord from the city of Ascoli Piceno who has promised her in marriage to expand his business, crosses paths with Lotario, a young knight with whom all the local girls are in love, while returning home accompanied by her governess.
As if by a silent appointment, the two meet every day in the same place at the same hour. After some time, glances give way to words, and words to stolen kisses.
The two meet secretly, until Imelda and Lotario completely seal their love.
Imelda is too young and naive to hide her joy, so much so that her father Eufemio begins to suspect something.
Eufemio has Imelda followed and discovers the secret meetings with Lotario.
Eufemio demands an explanation from his daughter, who confesses everything.
Eufemio loses his temper because he can no longer marry off Imelda, who has lost her purity, to the man she was promised to. He decides to lock her in a convent, forcing her to take vows.
Unable to say goodbye or warn her beloved Lotario, Imelda slowly lets herself die of hunger and thirst in the convent.
After weeks of searching, Lotario learns the tragic truth. Blinded by fury, without challenging him to a regular duel, he brutally kills Eufemio.
Lotario is forced to flee to escape justice. He retreats to a remote place near a river, building a hut that soon becomes a refuge for other desperate souls.
One night, Imelda appears to him in a dream, telling him to build something that could remind the world of their love.
Lotario begins to build a church, an abbey where years later he would become a monk.
Lotario and Imelda on Horseback