Teodora Axente - Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, Italy
Metamorphosis of the Sacred by Teodora Axente curated by Riccardo Freddo and Michela Eremita from an idea by Cristiano Leone
The first institutional solo exhibition of Teodora Axente, one of the most intense voices of contemporary European painting, is an exhibition entirely conceived for the Santa Maria della Scala Santa Maria della Scala Museum Complex, Siena November 14, 2025 – January 11, 2026 The Santa Maria della Scala Museum Complex in Siena hosts from 14 November 2025 to 11 January 2026 the exhibition Metamorfosi del Sacro , the first institutional solo exhibition by Teodora Axente , a Romanian artist among the most intense voices of contemporary European painting. site-specific exhibition project was born from an idea by the President of the Cristiano Leone Foundation , with the desire not only to juxtapose contemporary art with historical heritage, but to enhance the latter through initiatives specifically conceived for the museum complex. The exhibition, created in collaboration with the Rosenfeld Gallery in London, is curated by Riccardo Freddo and Michela Eremita . Metamorfosi del Sacro is an artistic project of 25 works conceived entirely for Santa Maria della Scala: a journey that unites centuries and sensibilities, in which relics become evoked presences and the spiritual dimension is renewed through hybrid images. Once a hospital and a place of welcome for pilgrims, Santa Maria della Scala houses unique treasures such as frescoes by Vecchietta (Lorenzo Di Pietro, 1410-1480, Siena), the Virgin's veil, the nail from the Cross, and relics from Constantinople. It is within this web of symbols that Teodora Axente's research is grafted, transforming the spiritual and material legacy of Santa Maria into an imaginative atlas. Listening to this place—where the artist spent time studying and admiring its wonders—his canvas-installations are born, memories intertwined with frescoes, symbols, and liturgical objects, transforming them into a visionary pictorial language. Central to these themes is the theme of metamorphosis: birth, dissolution, elevation, where the body becomes a fragile and sacred place, an incubator of the soul and an instrument of healing, while everything is a trace of a passage from the earthly to the divine. The still lifes incorporate objects once used within the hospital, such as bowls and bandages, containers and medical instruments, which become secular relics and traces of physical and spiritual healing. The insect, the cocoon, the lily, the ladder, and the chalice become archetypes of transformation, a reminder of the possibility of transfiguration. Alongside these motifs, the artist integrates specific elements such as the painted architecture in the large fresco cycles. The relics are symbolic presences within his compositions and the sacredness of the place is intertwined with its original function of welcome and care. In the work entitled Still Life with Lilies (2025) a still life of sacred relics purchased by the Empress of Constantinople is organised around the Nail of the Cross of Christ, transformed into the luminous fulcrum of the composition; in The Ladder (2025) the artist reworks Vecchietta's frescoes , recomposing them into a ladder suspended between earth and sky; in Restoring the World (2025) an angelic girl holds a vial with the blood of Christ, fragile and powerful at the same time, as a promise of rebirth.
