Andrea Saltini's 'Gratia Plena' at Carpi's Diocesan Museum

Andrea Saltini (born 1974 in Carpi) presents 'Gratia Plena' at the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Carpi, home of the Museo Diocesano 'Cardinale Rodolfo Pio di Savoia'. The exhibition features 20 works exploring spirituality and religious experience through contemporary art. Don Carlo Bellini wrote the catalog introduction, describing the encounter with sacred space as an 'experience of meeting one's deepest self'. The central triptych 'Gratia Plena' depicts the Virgin Mary in three stages: surrounded by doubting Pharisees, advancing with dignity while pregnant, and ascending amid golden tongues. Mary's face is that of three different women, symbolizing all women. Opposite the altar, Saltini presents Christ's body pierced by Longinus's lance, with the work 'INRI (San Longino)' focusing on Longinus as a 'saint' who commits a desperate act of atonement. 'Caravaggio uber alles' reinterprets Caravaggio's 'Deposition' and 'Crucifixion of Saint Peter'. 'Escatore di uomini (ascensione di Pietro)' shows Peter's ascension not as elevation to heaven but as a figure lying on the ground, ennobled by water. The exhibition runs at the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Carpi.