Emanuela Pulvirenti's 'Il mondo alla finestra' explores art through the window motif

Emanuela Pulvirenti, creator of the popular blog Didatticarte, has published a new book with Rizzoli titled 'Il mondo alla finestra' (2022, 304 pp., €20). The book examines the window as a symbolic theme in art history, analyzing about a thousand paintings and selecting roughly 250 for 34 thematic paths. Pulvirenti, an architect by training, was inspired by her long-standing collection of window images in paintings, which she previously shared on social media. The book includes works by well-known artists as well as lesser-known ones, covering topics such as train windows, views of Rome and Paris, prison windows, still lifes on windowsills, and domestic scenes. The cover features Vermeer's 'Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window' rather than Pulvirenti's personal favorite, Vilhelm Hammershøi's 'Sunbeams, or Sunshine, Dust Motes Dancing in the Sunbeams' (1900), due to concerns about public reception of monochromatic works. Pulvirenti describes the book as a 'walk through art stories' rather than a manual, inviting readers to start anywhere. The project was conceived before the pandemic, though she resumed posting windows on Facebook during lockdown. The interview also touches on climate activism and art heritage protection, with Pulvirenti emphasizing that environmental and cultural issues are interconnected.