Piazza d'Italia con statua (1937) by Giorgio de ChiricoLa Galleria Nazionale
The Italian piazzas designed by Giorgio de Chirico are metaphysical places in which time is suspended – places of absence where de Chirico, with a fixed photographic framing, constructs urban still lives.
Presente e passato (1936) by Giorgio de ChiricoLa Galleria Nazionale
Through perspective, de Chirico frames in a unitary space the fragments of the past and visions of the future.
The artist imagines views of of ancient cities that overlap with visions of modern cities, taken from places where he himself lived:\
La torre e il treno (1934) by Giorgio de ChiricoLa Galleria Nazionale
Athens, Constantinople then Monaco...
La torre del silenzio (1937) by Giorgio de ChiricoLa Galleria Nazionale
Milan, Florence, Turin, Paris, Ferrara, New York, Venice, and Rome.
Piazza d'Italia con statua (1937) by Giorgio de ChiricoLa Galleria Nazionale
They are places where public space is uninhabited by man and comes populated with objects – fragments, ruins, arches, arcades, street corners, walls, buildings, towers, chimneys, trains, statues, mannequins –
all estranged from their usual context emerge with all their iconic strength becoming unrealistic, mysterious, and enigmatic.