The young Master Luca Battini

Luca Battini at work

After graduating from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Maestro Luca Battini studied traditional techniques (fresco, drawing, oil painting and egg tempera emulsion) with masters from Italy and other countries.

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s was a turbulent time in the Italian art world. The “past” seemed to have been left behind; thought to be outdated, it no longer seemed to provide means of expression adequate for a world where traditional artistic rules no longer applied. It was in this period that the revisionism that began in the second half of the 19^th century and continued in phases through the 20^th century reached its height. However, in those times of absolute and absolutist negation, the foundations were laid for a creative rediscovery of the ideas that had inspired figurative art until the early 20^th century.

Luca Battini is part of the artistic movement whose greatest exponent is Maestro Pietro Annigoni, who revisits traditional techniques in a contemporary way. This does not mean simply reproducing traditional art in a mechanical way; rather, it means using tradition as the basis for a new mode of realistic expression. The people Luca Battini depicts are models from present day but in the context of his works they become simultaneously of the past and of the present. This is the spirit that informs Luca Battini’s work. Tradition gives him fresh inspiration to express himself in a complete and a mature way.

The successes that characterize Luca Battini’s progression as an artist confirm the rich fertility of his choices of style. His work is always characterized by the utmost professionalism. His preparation is done entirely by hand using natural materials, exactly as it was done 500 years ago or more.

He says:

“I like to think of painting as something linked profoundly to our land and traditions, through a journey that takes us back to our deepest roots. It would be impossible for me to set this feeling aside in my works, which lay claim to a great heritage in the hope – rather than the expectation – of emulating that heritage. And San Ranieri – layman and saint, a figure characteristic of his times – seems to me as an artist a great example of this.”

Luca Battini