DOMENICO ALFONSI – 14 october 1995
“IL VOLTO DI ANGELA DA FOLIGNO” by artist Giovanna Bruschi
The features of Blessed Angela of Foligno illustrated in the book by Father Domenico Alfonsi, (La Figlia dell’Estasi. A Spiritual Biography of the Blessed Angela of Foligno, EMP, Padova 1995), is a pencil drawing by the Perugian artist Giovanna Bruschi, who has devoted several years studying the mystic saint from Foligno, reaching some truly surprising conclusions both under the aesthetic and the theological aspects. (cf. A.D., Il viaggio… Foligno 1991). In this last work, however, she exceeded all expectations by giving us the sensation of finding ourselves in front of a bottomless pit from which we can continuously pull up pure and refreshing water without fear of exhaustion. Through an initial syncretic look we can identify a complex set of spatial depths and movements that immediately refer to an existential dimension that is certainly not flat or predictable, but highly dramatic. If we then attempt a detailed analytical reading, the immediate impression is confirmed by drawing a comparison between the overlapping patterns of chromatic nuances and the several life experiences of the saint, with such intensity that in her features are reflected the entire human and divine existence of Angela of Foligno.
