Archeologi misteriosi

Giorgio de Chirico, Archeologi misteriosi
Author: 

Giorgio de Chirico

Type: 
Painting
Year: 
1926
Material and technique: 
olio su tela
Size: 
61 x 49,5 cm
Origin: 
Paul Guillaume, Paris; Chester Johnson, Chicago; Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York; private collection, Svizzera

Two mannequin statues sitting on low seats with exaggeratedly short legs. The ancient buildings which cover their stomachs characterise them as archaeologists. Each figure is represented in a unique tonality which makes them seem to be made of stone, as if they themselves were ancient sculpture. The picture’s whole surface, which is almost uniformly monochrome, is interrupted only by the thick azure stripes behind the light mannequin and by the dark marks of the other figure’s back. The true originality of this work comes from the neat contraposto of the two figures, one seen from the front, the other from the back, one light, the other dark, a juxtaposition that intrigues with its profound meaning and which has led the work to be given the second title of Day and Night.

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