Il corallo 1994

Carlo Maria Mariani's painting, Il corallo, features a nude figure holding coral and branches against a backdrop of muted pinks, yellows, and purples, with faded geometric shapes hovering behind. I can imagine Mariani carefully layering thin glazes of paint, building up the form with precise brushstrokes. Look at the delicate rendering of the skin tones, the subtle shadows that give the figure volume. I wonder if he was thinking about the Old Masters when he made this? The pose, the smooth surface of the painting - it's as though he's trying to resurrect a lost tradition. But the geometric shapes and faded colors create a weird tension with the realistic figure, like a dream that's both familiar and strange. And that coral—it’s so brittle, so vulnerable. Like art itself, perhaps? Mariani is not only conversing with the past but also questioning what painting can be in the present. It's an intimate and unsettling dialogue.