Pasquale Battista (1959) - Il mito sospeso

The oil on Masonite work fits fully into Pasquale Battista's pictorial research (Grumo Nevano, Naples, 1959), characterized by a constant dialogue between classical architecture, the human figure, and symbolic landscape. The composition develops along a horizontal layout, rigorously marked by architectural elements that evoke an ancient temple or a monumental structure now emptied of its original function.

At the center of the stage emerges a female figure with strong allegorical significance, caught in a suspended and unnatural movement, almost balanced on an Ionic capital. The body, wrapped in a pinkish drapery of clear Renaissance lineage, bends backward in a gesture that suggests both momentum and abandonment, while another figure, partially concealed, seems to support her in a relationship of dependence and protection. The gesture of the outstretched arm and the gaze directed outward reinforce the sense of waiting and questioning, as if the figure were called to indicate a direction that is now uncertain.

The backdrop opens onto a nocturnal seascape, dominated by cool shades of blue and violet, punctuated by ruins and ruinous architecture. These elements amplify the sense of temporal distance and decay, transforming the natural space into a mental place, laden with memory and silence. The ruins, isolated and monumental, assume the role of mute testimonies of a bygone civilization, while the still sea becomes a metaphor for eternity and the suspension of time.

The painting, smooth and controlled, reveals solid mastery of drawing and a conscious adherence to the classical figurative tradition, reinterpreted however in a contemporary and conceptual key. In this work, Battista constructs an image of strong formal balance, which translates into a reflection on human fragility, the weight of historical memory, and the persistence of myth in a present devoid of certainties.

Stamp on the back Studio d’Arte Metopa – Pasquale Battista