artwork number 46

“Self Portrait” (tribute to Michelangelo and Newton) – Cesare Catania  – Contemporary Painting

Year: 2016

Dimensions: 150 cm x 150 cm

Technique: Oil and acrylic on canvas

 

 

 

 

 

Description

In this self-portrait, the author is inspired by the sketches used by Michelangelo before realizing the Sistine Chapel.
Cesare Catania infact realizes this work completely in front of the mirror, studying his own anatomy in relation to what were the studies undergone by Michelangelo Buonarroti of a human figure placed in the same location 500 years ago.

 

Cultural Background

The background of the painting Self Portrait instead focuses on the first two laws of Newton, scientist and mathematician, founder of classical mechanics. In his first two laws relating to the Axiomata sive Leges Motus Treaty, Isaac Newton states:
1 – In the absence of forces, a body at rest remains at rest, and a body which is moving in a rectilinear and uniform speed continues indefinitely.
2 – the acceleration of an object is proportional to the force (F) acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass (M).
In this work Cesare Catania illustrates the oxymorons present in his personality; on one hand the artistic sphere with references to classical art of Michelangelo, on the other the engineering sphere with references to the basics of physics and dynamics of Isaac Newton.

 

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