Col tempo and the symbolism of mortality by Angela Galvan

Angela Galvan was born in 1987 in Venice, Italy. There she studied philosophy (Cà Foscari university) and drawing (Academy of fine arts) before moving to Pisa and England where she graduated in the history of art. Now based in Budapest, she works as a language teacher while she paints and writes. ​

“Col tempo” quotes Giorgione's Portrait of an old woman, but in my painting only one arm is visible, the arm of a young male holding the clock. He can hold the clock, but he can't stop time; the only way to frame it is making it eternal in a painting or a photo. 

​The iconography of the crucifixion in the history of art was mostly linked to Jesus and relegated to religious paintings, until Francis Bacon, with his numerous studies, completely changed this perspective. He was then able to show how a crucifixion can become the expression of universal pain (animals included). I've always found this idea fascinating and I've always wanted to depict my own version: a crucifixion that would include all feelings. In my painting the cross is missing, but the pose is the same, and along with suffering the model shows pleasure, restraint, frustration and a mix of love and death that perhaps is the key ingredient of most of my portraits.