BVLGARI – The Light Catcher photography by Javier Gomez

March 8, 2016

How do we feel when we are in front of a work of art? We enter Monza’s cathedral to find out. The 6th century nears the end, and we’re by Queen Teodolina’s side  wife of the Longboard king Atari, and later Agilulfo.

We owe her everything that surrounds us: one of the most important ecclesiastical structures in Italy: The centuries pass, and we witness various transformations. In the 14th century; precious details get added on – among others, the altar and the pulpit, symbols of the imperial coronations related to Visconti’s family. The basilica becomes what we admire today in the 15th century; under the sign of the Zavattari painters.

Thanks to a complicated restoration implemented by Fondazione Gaiani, the paintings narrating Teodolinda’s story through forty -five everyday scenes come back to life. The single expressions of the eight hundred characters of the tale are now before our eyes. A visual Kaleidoscope translated by a detail, the sixteen radu rose – window, which reveals the deep connection between all these works: brightness and color. We’re overthrown by surprise, emotions, enchantment. Art gives us back portion of reality to unleash emotional earthquakes. All because of an element shared between the place, the works and the photographer: light.