Testa Biography
Italy
Born and raised in Piombino, an industrial town on the Tuscan coast, I have lived abroad for many years. About ten years ago, I come back to my hometown, where I live at present.
I have always found my artistic influences through the lens of my theoretical concerns, which mainly focus on the human body and its troubling and deep meanings. My most powerful sources of inspiration are the masters of the Italian Renaissance and the Flemish Primitives, but also the printed books of Anatomy, the illustrated lives of the Catholic Martyrs, as well as the literature on “human marvels”. I am also deeply touched by the Art Brut.
I have a strong academic background in History of Art (including a Master and a PhD, both achieved in Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris and a PhD in Renaissance Art at the Italian Institute for Renaissance Studies in Florence). I have worked in many different countries as an academic researcher and as a curator of exhibitions (among which a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary, CA, and a research position at Leeds Museum and Galleries, UK, for a project in collaboration with the National Gallery, London).
I have published many articles and thought conferences on different topics, mostly in English and in French, and I was awarded with a prize from the Italian Ministry of Culture for the publication of the book San Sebastiano. Nudità, sangue e peste nella pittura devozionale Toscana (1350-1500), 2017.
My publications also include: « Les ‘monstres’ : un cas exemplaire d’incompréhension », in Moments d’incompréhension, Paris, Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2007 ; « Le corps : anatomie d’un symbole », Protée, volume 36, numéro 1, Spring 2008, (Montréal) ; “Chairs mortifiées. Connaissance anatomique et esthétique de la souffrance dans la représentation des martyres aux siècles XVIème et XVIIème”, in Corps souffrants, sanglants et macabres. XVI-XVII sec., Paris, Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2010 ; « Le corps et l’œuvre dans les portraits de nains de cour. XVI-XVII sec.”, in Corps et Interprétation, Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2012 ; "Les amours des mortels. Efficacité et érotisme", in Visions du corps, la scène érotique, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2014 ; “Meanings and Strategies for Displaying Human Marvels : Inquiring the Iconography of the Double” in The Centre as Margin. Eccentric Perspectives on Art, Vernon Press, Wilmington and Malaga 2018; “Dalle drôleries ai prodigi anatomici. In margine al libro del corpo tra Medioevo e Rinascimento’’, in Corpi manoscritti. Archivi e corporalità nell’età moderna, ECIG, Genova,2018; “Saintes et sauvages. Femmes poilues dans la culture visuelle de la Renaissance” in La femme sauvage dans les arts et les lettres, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, 2019.
I draw and paint since my most early years, self-thought and in isolation. My artistic activity has been a substantive part of my researches and a strong support for my enquiries, but my art has never been exposed before, and barely seen until now. For this reason, I only have a few artworks in Private Collection in France, Canada and Italy.
Statement: Praising blood and bones
