POVERA ART

Altarpiece. Italy. XIX century.

Of old invoice, the work was made with wood, glued and gilded paper; paper filigree, various fabrics, chiselled and embossed metal, and other materials, always within the framework of religious art, although within what is known as "arte povera". The box has a loose glass that protects its interior. Measures. Height: 39.7 cm / 15.62 in. Length: 34.6 cm / 13.62 in. Depth: 7.3cm / 2.87 in.

These wonders of paper, made with ancient techniques from the 14th century onwards, resort to gold paper or colored sheets, and even skillfully folded golden straws that give the effect of juxtaposed sheets; and perforated lace papers. In general, these altarpieces formed part of the furniture of modest Italian houses, probably from the south of the peninsula, from where this example must have traveled together with some members of a migrant family, who had come to our country in search of a better life. Argentina was a very promising destination in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Its shapes reveal a close relationship between paper altars and architecture. This can be appreciated when it is observed that many examples represent the front of a side chapel of the church or even the front of the main altar. Responding to a common design pattern, each altar reveals the variants adopted by the authentic artists who created them in the cloistered monasteries. Although the compositional schemes are quite rigid, the creative flight of its author is expressed in the materials, in the general composition, and in all its decoration.

Today, beyond the devotion that gave rise to them, they are authentic collector's items.

Bibliographic source:

S.O.XVI-DEM