Over the past decade, reflecting on love has led me to a realization: love possesses both extraordinary complexity and beautiful simplicity. To honour this discovery, I am working on two projects that explore the nature of love, each focusing on a different aspect, with the hope of offering a glimpse into one of the noblest truths.
The first project embraces the beautiful simplicity of love. Racconti toscani d'amicizia (Tales of Friendship in Tuscany) is an art book that illustrates everyday moments of friendship found in the cities and towns of Tuscany, a region that is so close to my heart.
The second project explores the depth of love through an exhibition that illustrates love in Dante's Divine Comedy. This project reflects on Dante’s view of love, combining academic scholarship with insights from his poetry, and incorporates visual and musical interpretations.
To learn more about each project, please scroll down.
Tales of Friendship in Tuscany
What constitutes friendship? Philosophers and writers throughout the Renaissance have pondered this question hoping to get closer to its essence. What have they found?
“Claudia Miatello’s light whimsical touch is very charming and a breath of fresh air.”
- Dr. Teodolinda Barolini, Lorenzo Da Ponte Professor of Italian at Columbia University, Past President, Dante Society of America, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Dante
"Claudia Miatello’s illustrations of Dante’s work are very beautiful and I am grateful to her for having shared a sample with me: my compliments!”
- Dr. Lino Pertile, Carl A. Pescosolido Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, Former Director, Villa I Tatti
“Le illustrazioni dantesche di Claudia Miatello sono molto belle e le sono grato per avermene dato un saggio: complimenti!”
- Dr. Lino Pertile, Carl A. Pescosolido Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, Former Director, Villa I Tatti
“In an era like the current one that is increasingly gloomy and contaminated by catastrophes and difficulties, Claudia Miatello manages to "remove weight" from the representation of reality, using a narrative language of astonishing authenticity and great lightness; a lightness that never falls into superficiality, but rather a "weightless gravity". In fact, in the artworks a special connection is created between melancholy and humor, capable of lightening the sadness and removing the bodily heaviness from the comedian. By "gliding over things from above" without having "boulders on the heart", as Italo Calvino claimed in "American Lessons", the painter teaches us to recognize those emotions of existence that actually arise from imperceptible moments, from small instants of happiness that hide in the folds of our daily life.”
- Virginia Bazzechi Ganucci, Florence, Italy
“In un’epoca come quella attuale sempre più cupa e contaminata da catastrofi e difficoltà, Claudia Miatello riesce a “togliere peso” alla rappresentazione della realtà, servendosi di un linguaggio narrativo di stupefacente genuinità e di grande leggerezza; una leggerezza che non scade mai in superficialità, ma si tratta piuttosto di una “gravità senza peso”. Nelle opere infatti si crea una speciale connessione tra melanconia e umorismo, capace di alleggerire la tristezza e di togliere al comico la sua pesantezza corporea. “Planando sulle cose dall’alto” senza avere “macigni sul cuore”, come sosteneva Italo Calvino in “Lezioni Americane”, la pittrice ci insegna a riconoscere quelle emozioni dell’esistenza che scaturiscono in realtà da attimi impercettibili, da piccoli istanti di felicità che si nascondono tra le pieghe della nostra vita quotidiana.”
piazza della repubblica, Firenze
Caffè Gilli
This artwork, titled "Mezzogiorno", is now a part of the personal art collection of the owners of Caffè Gilli, a historic café in the heart of Florence since 1733.
"Mezzogiorno", 2019, 60 cm x 50 cm
My history with Florence
Wedding in Florence
In 1966, my father, Egidio Marchese, a young civil lawyer who had recently graduated from the University of Florence worked at a law office on Via Cavour. That same year, my mother, Irene Jagusiak, travelled from Canada to Italy to study Italian history abroad in Florence for one year as part of the MA program at Middlebury College in Vermont. They were destined to meet …
(Image: Irene with her brother-in-law & his family at Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, 1967)