Roberto de Pinto, Piccola natura morta su una testa, 2026

2026

Medium

Encaustic, pastels, charcoal and oil on canvas

Dimensions

35 × 50 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-157765

Piccola natura morta su una testa [Small Still Life on a Head] presents a close-up view of Roberto de Pinto’s recurring male figure, a motif the artist describes as a painterly alter ego and a form of self-portrait. The figure is shown in three-quarter view, with Mediterranean features, a hoop earring, strands of pearls, flowers, and a fragment of paper — a pencil sketch of a partially nude male figure that alludes to homoerotic imagery — placed across the head. The title refers to the still-life elements arranged on the man’s head. De Pinto works with a distinctive encaustic technique, reinterpreted through a cold-wax process combining wax, pigments, and charcoal. Inspired in part by the Fayum mummy portraits, this technique gives the surface a textured, tactile quality. The wax creates a patina that recalls ancient frescoes and emphasizes the material presence of skin.