Double tribute to Pietro Perugino, out of the pop brush of the great Stefano Chiacchella. The painter has realized two works, inspired and at the same time dedicated to the Divine Painter, as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of his death in 2023.
The first work represents, on the left, a reference to saint Sebastian, often depicted by Perugino; the saint is counterbalanced on the right by a woman, an allusion to female seduction (body naked and fit), but also a reflection on the condition of the woman in a society that exalts her image, but also exploits it, humiliates her, “torment” her (the metaphorical darts that afflict her). The saint pierced by arrows wears designer underwear, in the usual “provocative” witty style of Chiacchella. In the background, the monumental complex of San Domenico (at night) and the skyline of Città della Pieve, birthplace of Perugino. At the bottom left a quote to another important Umbrian artist, Alberto Burri, while at the foot of the canvas are shown the two dates (1523-2023) written, respectively, in Roman and Arabic numerals.
The second work of Chiacchella instead depicts the metaphor of a pictorial clash Perugino-Signorelli: in fact, 2023 is the year in which the fifth centenary of the death of both artists.
The faces of the two painters are preceded by an iconic representation of two forearms, prosthetic in a challenge to a metaphorical arm wrestling.
