Traditional painter Roberto Ferri is a Renaissance and Baroque style artist working in the modern world. He employs highly detailed figures cast in dramatic lighting, exhibiting moments of passion, death and mysticism. Most of his art places itself firmly in realism (with a touch of the aforementioned dramatic lighting and contrast). What really interests me is when he steps out of the traditional subject matter - e.g. figures in robes sharing an embrace or a half-clothed soldier sweeping a woman onto his horse - and takes on mysticism and touches on surrealism. He does so in a consistently creative manner while still maintaining his old-style craft.
Through his more surreal side, Ferri depicts material that the Baroque and Renaissance artists never did. Yes, the older painters showed mythology and religious scenes quite often, but Ferri has taken it to a different level, applying more modern, visceral concepts of mythology. It's really cool to see the older painters working through Ferri so visibly while applying their craft to the more visually intense and visceral tendencies in modern art. Through him, the Baroque and Renaissance artists are able to address subject matter in a way they either wouldn't or couldn't in their time.
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