La Cène de l'Alouette, 2017

Acrylic on cardboard, 80 cm x 120 cm

Maximilian

Maximilian was born in Milan, Italy, on December 17, 1969. He started painting as a child, and despite his art school training, he maintains an instinctive approach to his work, letting his subconscious dictate his subject matter. The recurring figure of a pre-adolescent child, neither male nor female, lends a coherence to this free-form universe. Since moving to Paris, France, in 2012, his work has focused on that unripe phase of human existence when gender is still undefined and sexuality has yet to be expressed. The melancholy and reflective characters he portrays experience the often difficult and painful transition from childhood games and innocence to the first upsets of adolescence and adulthood.

“La Cène de l’Alouette (The Supper at Alouette) is a very personal interpretation of a classic theme in Western Art: the Last Supper. My artwork is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece: see similarities in the table cloth, decorations, and arrangement of the dishes as well as the gesture of the young Christ of my painting, which recalls the open-armed Jesus of Leonardo’s work. In my interpretation, the figure of Christ is portrayed as an adolescent, a symbol of innocence, purity, and eternal youth. This young Christ displays the symbols of his passion: the crown of thorns and the wound in his side. He is offering his blood for the salvation of man. The table behind him stands empty, without the Twelve Apostles, of whom only the names are noted in the place cards on the table. The solitude of Christ underlines the tragedy of his sacrifice.”