Giovanna Brambilla's 'Inferni' Explores Hell in Art History

Giovanna Brambilla, known for her innovative educational work at GAMeC in Bergamo, has published 'Inferni. Parole e immagini di un’umanità al confine' (EDB, Bologna 2020). The book examines representations of hell, damnation, and redemption in art from antiquity to the present, including works by Goya, Munch, Bacon, Teresa Margolles, Christian Boltanski, and Mustafa Sabbagh. Brambilla's approach intertwines ethics, philosophy, economics, and politics, offering a non-judgmental dialogue with art history. The volume closes with a photograph by Letizia Battaglia of Rosaria Costa, widow of a victim of the Falcone assassination, linking contemporary tragedy to medieval iconography. Written before the COVID-19 pandemic, the book resonates with Bergamo's experience as a hard-hit area, reflecting on societal fractures and the thin line between hell and salvation.