A concept-driven photographic work inspired by a Gothic fresco from Prunetto, Italy, developed through staging, retouching, and compositing.

Las Tentaciones de San Antonio Abad is a conceptual photographic piece inspired by a Gothic fresco from the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Carmen in Prunetto, Italy. The work reinterprets the story of Saint Anthony and the temptations he faced, creating a dialogue between historical art and contemporary visual language.

What drew me most to the original fresco was the imaginative way evil was represented through hybrid, symbolic, and unsettling figures. In this reinterpretation, those influences appear through different characters and disguises, translated into a staged photographic scene with a contemporary perspective.

At the same time, the piece reflects on present-day temptation: the moral, emotional, and spiritual tensions that still shape human experience.

The project began from a close observation of the fresco and its visual language: the figures, gestures, symbolism, and the presence of evil in different forms. Rather than creating a literal copy, I wanted to build a contemporary interpretation that preserved the atmosphere and narrative tension of the original work while giving it a new photographic form.

Starting from the fresco as both a visual and conceptual reference, I developed the final image through staging, character construction, and detailed post-production. The process involved shaping the composition carefully from the original photograph through to the final artwork.

Through retouching and compositing, I worked on light, color, texture, and atmosphere to make all the elements feel cohesive and believable within the same scene. My goal was to preserve a natural visual balance while reinforcing the symbolic and narrative strength of the image.

This piece was created as a commissioned project within the Bormida Gotica initiative by Parco Culturale Alta Langa, developed with the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and in collaboration with cultural institutions dedicated to preserving and reinterpreting Gothic heritage in the Valle Bormida.