Salvatore Fiume - The Smiling Christ

The iconographic subject of Christ's face has ancient origins and is connected to the legend of Veronica. The episode in which Christ's true features were imprinted on a cloth used by a woman to wipe his face is also recounted in the Gospels. This woman was identified as Veronica, likely due to the similarity with the Latin words "Vera Icon." Since the early Christian era, Christ's face has been the object of particular veneration. Its depiction has spanned the entire history of Western art. From the first iconic representations of the early Christian and early Middle Ages, we gradually moved on to increasingly naturalistic (starting in the Renaissance) or realistic (typical of Flemish art) depictions. The side panels feature the four evangelists. When the triptych is closed, the panels feature two figures of angels.

In this silkscreen, Fiume is clearly inspired by medieval triptychs. This is evident in the frontal aspect of Christ, reminiscent of the figure of the Pantocrator, and in the proportions of the evangelists, as well as their harmony and ease of movement. However, Fiume reinterprets this subject and makes it his own with a contemporary sensibility. He makes the figures more iconic, slimming their volumes and simplifying their features. He also introduces a lively yet soft pictorial style, in which the sinuous forms of the characters are delicately shaped.

Salvatore Fiume, born in 1915 in Comiso, was a painter, sculptor, and architect. His career as a painter focused on a reinterpretation of classicism, particularly Renaissance painting and Piero della Francesca. Later, thanks to his success, he traveled extensively around the world, drawing inspiration from exotic folklore, which he rendered with an expressionist touch.

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