Imago Pietatis explores the Imagines Pietatis held in the Historical Archive of the Monte di Pietà in Bologna, now preserved by the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna.
The project is Elena Franco’s artistic response to an archive of more than one hundred volumes, each bearing a painted image of the suffering Christ on its upper edge.
Franco reinterprets these historic images to create new works centred on solidarity, care and the human condition. She moves freely between different media, with photography providing a common thread throughout. Yet the final works are never conventional photographs. They take the form of posters, scanned images — some subsequently altered by hand — and digital photographs printed on fabric.
The project culminates in an artist’s book of more than 800 pages, produced in an edition of just three copies.
WORKS AVAILABLE
Imago Pietatis, Serie 1, LOVE
4 prints on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 2.800
Imago Pietatis, Serie 2, AMORE
5 prints (which make up the AMORE writing) on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm each, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 3.000
Imago Pietatis, Serie 3
4 prints on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 2.400
Imago Pietatis, Serie 4
prints on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 600
Imago Pietatis, Libro d’artista
paper “Gardapat” white hand 1.3 g 200 m2, 34 x 23.5 cm, 840 pages, edition of 3 plus 1 PDA, digital take-up and subsequent digital processing, digital printing, interior sewn in eighths, Tuscan leather cover, cut manually finished in silver wax. 2019
Euro 3.500
Imago Pietatis
prints on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 600
Imago Pietatis, Serie 4
Imago Pietatis, Serie 4
prints on Fedrigoni XPER 220 gr paper, 60 x 40 cm, edition of 7 as well as 1 PDA, digital take-up, processing and printing. 2019
Euro 1.200
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #1
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #1
series of 4 photographs on Canson Platine Fibre Rag 310gr/m2 paper, 22 x 22 cm each, edition of 7 plus 1 PDA, digital scanning and processing, giclee print. 2019
Euro 2.200 (the series of 4)
Imago Pietatis, Dittico
Imago Pietatis, Dittico
pair of tapestries on brushed poly
300gr/m2, cm 100 x 135 each,
edition of 7 in addition to 1 PDA, digital shot, digital print. 2019
Euro 3.200 (the diptych)
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #2
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #2
Tapestry on microfiber canvas 85gr/sq m, 300 x 150 cm; folded approximately 43 x 42 cm, edition of 7 plus 1 PDA, digital scanning, processing and printing, mounted in a wooden cassette frame with glass
museum. 2019
Euro 1.600
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #3
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #3
photograph on Sihl Baryta paper 270gr/sq m, cm, 46.5 x 32.5, unique work, digital scanning and final manual processing, giclée printing, cassette wooden frame assembly with museum glass. 2019
Euro 1.400
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #4
Imago Pietatis, Passiflora #4
photograph on Sihl Baryta paper 270gr/sq m, cm, 46.5 x 32.5, unique work, digital scanning and final manual processing, giclée printing, cassette wooden frame assembly with museum glass. 2019
Euro 1.400