December 19th, 2019

Gioia Capolei “The Essence of the Shape”

Antonio Fontana - Master Goldsmith

One of the most famous artworks by Leonardo Da Vinci, actually, the most famous artwork is: "The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius" better known as the "Vitruvian Man". With it, Leonardo intended to represent the ideal measurements of the human body inscribed in a circle and in a square, the first being the symbol of heaven and of divine perfection, the second being that of the earth. 

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing based on the treatise "De Architectura", written between 30 and 15 BC, by the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius.

Its fascinating beauty is not what is most important here, as this work does not merely refer to architecture, it is about the perfect proportions of the human body through geometry.

Gioia Capolei understood this concept, and in it, she identified a new center, in the upper drawing of the navel, the center of Leonardo’s work. It is then without altering its rigorous geometries, that she reduced the figure of the man into segments, converging to its new center: the heart. This is a minimal synthesis of absolute purity, one which undoubtedly takes us back to the original Leonardesque figure.

Thus, those theorized proportions of the body represented by Vitruvius and Leonardo do not lose any theoretical-formal detail, but take on a new imaginary minimalist vision, with simple lines capable of expressing the plastic volume which is no longer visible, while maintaining the balance between earth, heavens, and man.

This is how Gioia takes on a bold investigation, one which does not long for the mainstream markets, which today cannot help imposing rules and flattening any more or less extreme avant-garde research, burying even the commercial creativity connected to the very markets which have been uniformed by the monster of globalization. Gioia distances herself from these dynamics, returning to the Renaissance, and to its cultural origins, re-elaborating a theme that cannot be faced with mere superficiality; one that plunges its cultural roots in the very air Gioia has breathed since her upbringing, and deepened in her studies over her many years of work. A research that tests our time, rightfully reaching contemporary art through the form of jewelry.

In this collection, designed and inspired by Leonardo's art, Gioia Capolei goes beyond the concept of traditional jewelry, an emblem of wealth and opulence with a purely ornamental interpretation; where the line, the drawing, the balance, and proportions, just as for Leonardo, take on a primary importance in the representation and the research of perfection. She therefore abandons the richer metals, without forsaking the chance of using them, giving space to less precious materials, embracing colors made of different patinas and metals, able to enrich one another in each jewel.

These are alternative proposals, destined to everyone, but thought with the most demanding in mind, those who yearn to wear real, unique, and exclusive works of art, as precious as jewels.  An unusual aspect for jewels, which simply encloses the relationships between man and jewel, jewel and sculpture, sculpture and man, Gioia and Leonardo.