The theme of rebirth has been approached from various perspectives, sometimes highlighting the attraction towards a particular color, as in... Read More
The theme of rebirth has been approached from various perspectives, sometimes highlighting the attraction towards a particular color, as in the case of red, the true protagonist of the painting 'The Alchemical Door (Minium),' an acrylic on canvas by Carlo Alberto Floridi.
The reference is to the symbolic Alchemical Door of Piazza Vittorio; the red minium symbolizes lead, which in alchemy is a symbol of transmutation, alluding to personal realization, or the perfection of the Self, albeit under the apparent pursuit of transmuting base metal into gold. It also hints at personal demons that can be overcome by crossing the threshold of that strange opening. A door where, among other cryptic inscriptions, one reads the palindrome phrase 'Si sedes non is' (if you sit, you do not go forward), which read in reverse becomes 'Si non sedes is' (if you do not sit, you go forward).
