Nush Menna - La dove dorme la luce

DOVE DORME LA LUCE

Serie: Madonne senza altare

Artista: NUSH Menna
Anno: ottobre 2026
Tecnica: pittura a olio su tela
Dimensioni: 30 × 40 cm
Opera originale unica
Provenienza: direttamente dallo studio dell’artista
Finitura: vernice finale protettiva
Certificato di autenticità incluso

DESCRIZIONE DELL’OPERA

Dove dorme la luce belongs to Madonne senza altare, a new painting project by NUSH Menna dedicated to the presence of the Madonna in the 21st century.

The series does not limit itself to the traditional representation of the Virgin with the Child. It traverses various contemporary female figures in which the Marian archetype survives: the mother, the guardian, the young woman, the body that welcomes, protects and bears the fragility of another being.

In this work a mother holds the child in a gathered, instinctive gesture. The sleeping infant, the woman’s posture, and the light laid on the bodies evoke the intimacy of Renaissance Madonnas. Clothes, fabrics, tattoos and pop details belong to the present. The sacred image is removed from the altar and brought back into daily life, where protection takes shape in the physical contact between two bodies.

The title Dove dorme la luce (Where the light sleeps) arises from the painting’s luminous construction: the light does not merely cross the scene, it seems to rest on the child, safeguarded by the mother’s arms and surrounded by shadow.

NOTA CURATORIALE

The composition relates different territories of the history of painting, absorbed by the artist and transformed into a contemporary figurative language.

The directional light, capable of making the bodies emerge from a deep background, recalls the luminous research developed between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with particular attention to Caravaggisti chiaroscuro. The shadow protects the scene and concentrates the gaze on the physical and emotional bond between mother and child.

The rich chromaticity of the fabrics, the delicacy of the flesh tones, and the affec­tive structure of the composition preserve a memory of the Madonnas by Raphael. The reference is not reproduced literally: contemporary fabrics, synthetic materials, and elements belonging to pop culture take the place of Renaissance drapery, while maintaining their painterly weight and symbolic function.

A yet more fragile and nostalgic vein, akin to Pre-Raphaelite sensibility, finally threads through the image. It emerges in the care for detail, in the suspension of the scene, and in a quiet beauty that already seems to know the possibility of loss.

Madonne senza altare brings Marian iconography out of the altarpiece and places it in the living body of the present. The figures of the series do not imitate the ancient Madonnas: they preserve the gesture, the focus, and the silence, traversed by the visual marks of the 21st century.

Dove dorme la luce is an autonomous and complete work, but it also constitutes one of the initial cores of the new cycle. It documents a maturation phase of NUSH Menna’s research, in which figuration, archetype, pop culture and memory of ancient painting find a recognizable synthesis.

The 30 × 40 cm format makes the painting suitable for both a private collection and a gallery exhibition project. Belonging to the early phase of Madonne senza altare may be of particular interest to collectors and to galleries following the development and continuity of the artist’s research.

Original work by NUSH Menna, directly from the artist’s studio.

SPEDIZIONE, IMBALLAGGIO E NOTE

The work is protected by a final varnish and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

It will be packed with special care to protect it during transport. When shipped without a frame, the canvas will be carefully rolled and inserted into a rigid protective tube. Recycled materials will be used where possible, with respect for the environment.

If the hammer price exceeds the reserve price, a simple frame chosen by the artist will be included as a complimentary addition. In this case, the packaging will be adjusted to accommodate the frame.

The mounted images are for illustrative purposes only to show the work in different exhibition contexts. Furnishings, objects and settings are not included in the purchase. Any frames shown in the photographic simulations are not included, unless indicated otherwise in the event of the reserve price being exceeded.

The tones of the work may appear slightly different in person. The colors visible in the photographs may vary depending on the lighting used during the shot, monitor settings, device, and display technology.

Shipping will be carried out with careful, trackable packaging, according to the destination’s procedures.

To view other works and follow the development of NUSH Menna’s research, you can consult the artist’s official personal website, easily found online by searching for her name.