Achille Salvagni
Medium: Parchment covered wood, cast bronze, 24kt gold plated bronze details
Dimensions: 34.5 in high x 50 in wide x 23.5 in deep
The Valley of the Temples in Sicily is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture, containing the remains of seven Doric temples. One is dedicated to Hera Lacinia, the goddess of family who Salvagni captures here by etching her portrait into the bronze panel on the front of the cabinet. In the fifth century BC, Polycleitus dedicated a sculpture to the goddess, using ivory and gold to depict her form, he positioned her with a sceptre in one hand and offering a pomegranate, like a royal orb, in the other. The pomegranate has come to symbolise abundance, fertility and good luck in many cultures and is Salvagni’s choice of colour for the parchment. The three pronounced and stylized legs of the cabinet are a direct reference to the triskeles symbol (a figure of three legs arranged in rotational symmetry) as found on the Sicilian flag.
