La Pala del Moretto della chiesa di Sant’Andrea a Bergamo: riflessioni sulla trasposizione di una composizione pittorica in uno spazio fisico

The document is an experience of the transformation of a painting into a physical model. A sculpture inspired by painting can enable those with a visual disability to see art through imagination and tactile perception. The benefit of the beauty of a pictorial representation is denied to the partially sighted and the blind. The widespread use of prototyping in the field of cultural heritage enables people affected by visual impairment to understand a work of art. The touch perceives the world of forms by smelling the figures and objects of the representation. The new physical ‘painting’ is a new artwork different from the original and, therefore, a complement that increases its sense and artistic value. The Madonna in trono col Bambino tra i santi Eusebia, Andrea, Domno e Domneone is a work of Alessandro Bonvicino called Moretto. It is preserved in the first right altar of the church of Sant’ Andrea Apostolo in Bergamo. Famous art historians studied the Pala. Its importance lies in the creative, almost mannerist, spatial construction. The painter makes the protagonists of the painting, the creation of a dynamic place in constant evolution. He conceives the scene according to the action of people, so it is the space that suits the intentions and poses of the actors. The painting was recently restored; it is a representation of the well-known iconographic theme of the Sacred Conversation. The painting is built on a rigorous central perspective, with the main point positioned at the centre of the representation. The decoration of the floor allows to reconstruct the geometry of the scene and to trace the depth of the base. The Virgin and the Child are drawn outside the scale (larger than normal) and elevated above the other characters. The physical translation focused on communicating the role of the characters in order to recognise their relationship. Understanding the interactions was very important for narrating. The process of painting transformation required a subjective interpretation, as well as the stylization of shapes. The model was not a true reconstruction of the reality of perspective but a ‘thick’ representation of painting. A reconstruction adapted to the interpretive skills of the visually impaired and blind who revealed the illusion of depth with the crushing of the forms on a paint of limited thickness. The high-relief technique represented the most appropriate choice for transmitting Moretto’s art and telling his idea of space.