Collections

"So that I might let my gaze dwell upon the ceiling" [study]

Artist: Thomson, Erin · b. 1998

"So that I might let my gaze dwell upon the ceiling" [study]

Thomson was inspired by the so-called Stendhal or Florence Syndrome focusing on a series of emotional responses to the city. The most important of…

Thomson was inspired by the so-called Stendhal or Florence Syndrome focusing on a series of emotional responses to the city.

The most important of these for the artist was the Niccolini Chapel, and in particular its dome. The domes of the Medici Chapel, Santa Maria del Fiore, and the Palazzo Vecchio were also important for their design influence.

The dome is encoded in concentric circles; in Italian (being the native language of Ugo Foscolo's 1806 poem "Dei Sepoleri" ("Of the Grave")) at the centre; French (being the native language of Stendhal's book) next and finally English (being the native language used by the artist in keeping her own Journal).

Foscolo's poem, inspired by the imposition of Napoleon's Edict of Saint-Cloud (1804) on Italy in 1806, which banished all burials to outwith the city walls and standardised the size and design of all memorials, is a meditation on the nature and philosophy of death.

The present work took the artist over a year to complete, and is based on her preparatory drawing 2023.0019.1.

© The Artist