Draft:The Exiled Family

The painting was conceived in collaboration with writer Francesco Lisbona (curator of the project), art critic Milena Naldi and architect Pierluigi Cervellati.The work depicts a dramatic moment of the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt, symbolically setting it within the context of the Gaza Strip^[5][6][7]. Fantera’s work engages with themes that are central to contemporary discourse, such as redemption, hospitality, and hope, as well as issues related to major global upheavals. These references have been associated with the themes of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’ and with messages of peace attributed to Pope Leo XIV^[8][9]. Fantera previously produced religious works including San Petronio and the Angel, exhibited at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna on October 4, 2024 during the patronal feast Mass^[10][11][12].

The painting shows figurative skill in the anatomical rendering of the bodies^[13], the variety of postures, and the clarity of the faces, each conveying a recognizable emotion within the narrative^[14]. The scene is structured around a choral composition, with groups of figures arranged according to a visual rhythm that guides the eye along the landscape^[15]. The palette alternates warm, earthy tones with deep blues in the sky. Color contributes to volume, depth, and tension^[16]. Light, diffused yet selective^[17], separates the narrative planes and emphasizes moments of theological and symbolic relevance^[18]. The landscape functions as both a physical and symbolic space^[19][20].