Imitatio Vitae

Passionate about antiquities, Alessandro Michele lent his artistic direction to a special art book by film producer, screenwriter and photographer Marina Cicogna.

‘IMITATIO VITAE’ portrays the architectural work considered masterpieces of Italian Gothic; the capitals that graced the colonnades of the porch and the loggia of Venice’s Palazzo Ducale until the end of the 19th century. Marina Cicogna recovered the images from the CameraphotoArte archive, adding her own shots to the book which shows the capitals’ diverse design flourishes. Marina Abramović, Paolo Di Paolo, Valeria Golino, Salma Hayek, Martin Parr, and Vanessa Redgrave and other creatives from the worlds of cinema, culture and art contribute to the book with some accompanying short thoughts and reflections on these unique designs. Distributed by the Venetian publisher Marsilio, ‘IMITATIO VITAE’ will be available in Italy from mid-September 2019 at the Gucci Garden in Florence and worldwide from February 2020.