Dante's Studiolo
PLACE
Manoir Cultural Center / Bodmer Foundation, Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland
EXPOSURE
Dante's Studiolo, Philippe Fretz
MANDATOR
Philippe Fretz, artist
OBJECT
Oversized suspensions
CHALLENGE
Non-standard dimensions of the suspensions, inverted cone, covering of the carcasses and printing, rendering of the lighting, lampshade in 4 removable parts, assembly on site
MATERIALS
White fireproof textile with waterproof treatment
SCREEN PRINTING
Sabrina Peerally, Atelier Madame, Geneva
LIGHTING
RGB LED animation, design Jacky Riesen, Atelier d’Art, Geneva
The Luminaries
"The lamps take up the generic form of the spaces described by Dante, a truncated and inverted cone for Hell, a truncated and straight cone for Purgatory and a spiral of nine spherical lamps representing the nine planets of Paradise rotating around a central sphere representing the Empyrean.
The lampshade of the Inferno is decorated with the three wild animals that stand in Dante's way in the first canto of the Inferno. They symbolize the three sins that hinder the pilgrim Dante: the lion is associated with pride, the she-wolf with greed, and the leopard with lust.
The lampshade of Purgatory is decorated with the three women who allow Dante to undertake his journey through the worlds of the afterlife; they appear in the first canto of Inferno, but they are also central to Purgatory: the Virgin Mary is cited as an example of humility on its first terrace, Lucy, associated with faith, guides Dante to the door of Purgatory and Beatrice, associated with hope, meets Dante in the earthly paradise, located at the top of Purgatory.
Excerpt from "Dante's Studiolo", Philippe Fretz
