Luigi Ontani
Bellimbusto Pitagora
Year : 1995
Dimensions : cm 64x37x27
Technique : polychrome ceramic and pure gold
Authentication : authentication on photo by Luigi Ontani
Short Review
This ceramic by Luigi Ontani stands out from the crowd, free of the frills and flourishes typical of Ontani's work. The half-length figure, depicting the mathematician Pythagoras, features a series of numbers written within squares drawn on a tunic that leaves one shoulder exposed. On his head, Ontani creates a turban held in place by a square clasp, the geometric figure on which one of Pythagoras's theorems is based. Pythagoras is famous not only for his theorems but also for the rigor that characterized his school, where students were forbidden to make any observations, under penalty of expulsion. The image Ontani conveys is not that of the ascetic, as portrayed in literature, but of a questioning face, at times one of barely concealed wonder.
