Description

In this panel, an ideal Jerusalem is depicted, where every single house, synagogue, church, and mosque becomes a unique combination of geometric shapes with very intense colors, reflecting the influence of Cubism with particular references to medieval and Renaissance art. Traces of Gothic-style decorations are engraved on the gold, which can be found in the windows of the churches as well as in the character of the music- playing angel dressed in vermilion red, a pigment often used by artists during the Tuscan Renaissance. However, medieval goldsmithing finds its highest expression in the central representation of the scene with the Wailing Wall. Every single stone has been finely engraved on the gold leaf, featuring different decorative elements made with “punching tecnique” and an agate stone-tipped. The Wailing Wall is a place full of history and excitement, a visible proof of griefs and hopes. Its ancient stones have witnessed generations of people passing by, leaving a mark on its surface. Silvia Salvadori, by scratching the gilded surface of each stone, wants to make them to stand out as if every teardrop and prayer could open new desires and requests to God through its fissures. This painting wants to be a poem, a prayer to Jerusalem. The bride and groom fly across the golden sky riding a white horse, as in Chagall’s "Song of Songs." The bride’s train gathers and stops the Virgin’s moves: love is stronger than death, it is like a bridge built between heaven and earth. The pomegranate vase in the background symbolizes justice, brotherhood, abundance, and prosperity. In the "Song of Songs," the pomegranate fruit becomes the representation of fertile love and the deep relationship between the two lovers. Moreover, pomegranate is also a frequent symbol used in Christian tradition: it was often painted by Sandro Botticelli, as in the "Madonna of the Pomegranate" preserved at the Uffizi Gallery, and reinterpreted beautifully by Silvia Salvadori.