The Space Narrated. The Stained Glass Windows of Pietro Chiesa in the Early Twentieth Century

Abstract

The contribution intends to examine the relationships between the image of the city and its spatial context, real or virtual, through the analysis of Pietro Chiesa’s artistic windows (1892–1948). In its production, the size of the inhabited space, emphasized by small architectural details or elaborate prospective games accentuated by profound chromaticities, is therefore a crucial factor. The windows then allowed the artist to work with the light and with the changing colour effects which it was able to create, depending on the transparency, the changing atmospheres, as well as new sensations and moods. The urban space and the constructions then become the subjects of a new narration portrayed by Pietro Chiesa in an ever-heterogeneous way without using an univocal interpretation, never in controversy with History, projected rather, towards the innovations of the artistic-literary avant-gardes.

Keywords

• twentieth century
• stained glass window
• north Italy