VIA DELLA FORNACE 41 50125 FIRENZE
Born in Pistoia (January 19, 1938), he is one of the great masters of art photography. Renowned for his portraits of 20th-century artists – including Warhol, De Chirico, Schifano, and Burri – he has skillfully merged a contemporary gaze with classical tradition. His iconic images of sculptures by Michelangelo, Canova, and Bernini are interpreted with tactile and luminous sensitivity. Winner of the Oscar Goldoni Prize, he has exhibited in prestigious venues such as Palazzo Reale, the Hermitage, and MAXXI. His works are held in major public and private collections. Author of numerous monographs, he has also photographed symbolic sites of Italian art and architecture. His work stands out for its balance between formal rigor and emotional intensity. In recent years, he has received lifetime achievement awards and been the subject of retrospectives in Italy and abroad.
Aurelio Amendola’s photographic lens explores the various stages of marble working, gradually approaching the informal. His gaze investigates and reinterprets the art of Michelangelo Buonarroti, highlighting abstraction and material detail. It is an invitation to discover the aniconic soul of Michelangelo’s sculptures.
His images reveal extraordinary details—as seen in the Pietà, where the polished surfaces seem to melt into wax under a warm, enveloping light, enhancing a timeless beauty. Similarly, his shots of the Pietà Bandini, recently restored, capture its regained magnificence. Called not only to document the outcome of the restoration, but also to reinterpret the work,… Amendola produced photographs that reflect the Renaissance sculptor’s deep sensitivity to material and light. These works were exhibited between late 2022 and early 2023 in the Sala del Paradiso of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence. Amendola’s experimental photographs, on display at Rifugio Digitale, reveal imperfections and abrasions on the surface, crafting a visual narrative that celebrates the authentic and spontaneous beauty emerging from the form itself—beyond the visible. 
