Posthumous Debate on Carlo Maria Mariani's Legacy

A letter from art enthusiast Antonio Martino to critic Renato Barilli challenges Barilli's classification of Carlo Maria Mariani as an Anachronist or Pittore Colto. Martino argues that Mariani's cerebral, intelligent painting originates from libraries, not museums, and should not be grouped with academic copyists. He praises Mariani's ability to demonstrate the indispensability of classical formal discoveries in modern times, and notes that Mariani's work offers an alternative to the avant-garde narrative. Martino cites Mariani's own statements and compares him to artists like Luigi Ontani and Salvo, who were included in Barilli's 1980 exhibition "Nuovi nuovi" at the GAM in Bologna. Barilli responds, reaffirming that placing an artist within a group does not diminish them, and that Mariani is the number one of the Anachronist movement. Mariani died at the same age as Giorgio de Chirico and on the same day.