Abel Ferrara interprets Gabriele Tinti’s Prometo

On the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Salvator Rosa (Naples 1615-Rome 1673), Tuesday 15 March, at 4.30 pm, the National Galleries of Ancient Art hosted in the Corsini Gallery the director and actor Abel Ferrara for the reading of the poems by Gabriele Tinti who draw inspiration from the painting Supplizio di Prometeomasterpiece of the Neapolitan painter. \

The event was organized with the contribution of the Culture and Art Foundation, with the organization and promotion of the National Galleries of Ancient Art. From 21 March, on the occasion of World Poetry Day, a video of the reading is available on the museum’s social channels.

The painting portrays Prometheus, a figure from classical mythology, lying on his back, chained to a cliff in the Caucasus. From the tension of the limbs, as well as from the grimace of the face, one can perceive all the brutality of the torture. One hand is clenched, the other is wide open, and the tendons almost protrude from the wrist; the legs apart are both very tense; the torn belly offers a piece of human anatomy; the eagle, attribute of Zeus and ambassador of his revenge, is devouring the intestine which, growing back every day, is the daily meal of an endless torture.

Abel Ferrara – director and actor known for his stories of redemption, of Christian interrogation, of inner suffering – gave voice to the Titan whose fight is that of everyone: dramatic, uneven and hopeless, against the mysterious and dark forces of Nature .

The event is part of the series of live readings performed in front of classical statuary and Renaissance painting. In recent years, the project has involved some important actors and some of the major museums in the world such as the Metropolitan in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the LACMA in Los Angeles, the British Museum in London, the Glyptotheque of Monaco, the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, the National Roman Museum of Rome, the Capitoline Museums, the Ara Pacis Museum, the Archaeological Museum of Naples and many others.

(All images courtesy Guido Gazzilli)