Tuesday, May 13, we will attend a lecture by Roberta Scorranese, inspired by the pages of her book Fluido (Giunti).

The Book:

The human body has been far more unstable than we might imagine—from the myths of antiquity to the "myths" of today. Gender and shape transitions, ambiguity, and various forms of transformation have long populated the imaginations of artists and writers, embedding themselves in the collective consciousness. The body has always concealed or displayed something undefined; it resists overly rigid classifications, can appear mutable, disguise itself, deceive, and embrace a disturbing ambiguity—be it formal or sexual.

This book explores how art has pursued and narrated this mutability, as found in sources, myths, and literature. We encounter figures like Hermaphroditus and Saint Sebastian, Dionysus and Ganymede, Zeus’s many disguises, shape-shifting or variable beings, sirens and witches, Michelangelo’s masculinized femininity, Caravaggio’s ambiguous young men, and the myriad metamorphoses of modernity—from David Bowie’s spectacular fluidity to the provocative fluidity of Damiano David. It’s all very fluid.

The Author:

Roberta Scorranese was born in Valle San Giovanni, in the province of Teramo, and lives in Milan. A journalist, she has worked for over twenty years at Corriere della Sera, where she is senior editor of the Cultural Events section. She is also the scientific director of the Art Master's Program at RCS Academy Business School.

She is the author of Portami dove sei nata (Bompiani, 2019), a memoir, and A questo serve il corpo. Viaggio nell'arte attraverso i corpi delle donne (2023), a nonfiction work. For Corriere della Sera, she curates the art column Capolavoro! and the video series Capolavoro! Video, focusing on cultural and current affairs topics.