Artistic events layered over the centuries

The first artistic manifestations in Sardinia date back to the Neolithic period, when the first decorations appeared on ceramics. The rich repertoire of vascular ornaments and the small figurines representing the “mother goddess” (of Neolithic and Eneolithic age), reproduced in different styles, constitute the most remarkable artistic expressions of the island's prehistory.
During the Bronze Age, with the establishment of the Nuragic civilization, small bronze sculptures (the 'bronzes') and the large stone statuary (the 'giants' of Monti Prama) were produced.
The artistic productions referring to the Phoenician-Punic culture are strongly characterized by Egyptian and Greek ways, which are manifested not only in the refined jewelry productions, but also in the steles of the Tophets, in the wall decorations of some chamber tombs and in the vascular ornaments.
During the phases of Roman domination, Sardinia was invested by the vast and complex artistic language developed in Rome, aimed at culturally assimilating the island, as evidenced by the findings of numerous sculptures and paintings, but also of mosaics, architectural reliefs and precious pottery.
The Sardinian Early Middle Ages mainly returns marble sculptures: fragments of sarcophagi, capitals, bases, frames and other elements of interior decoration of churches.
Between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when Byzantine Sardinia was transformed into judicial Sardinia, there are mainly sculptures linked to the external decoration of Romanesque churches, of which the pulpits, holy water fountains and presbyterial fences have survived to a small extent.
According to the sources, medieval painting must have been much more consistent, not only with regard to the works on panel, but also for the frescoes: the former totally lost, the others in small numbers.
In the thirteenth century there were artists and artifacts from central Italy in Sardinia, especially from Tuscany. With the Aragonese conquest, between 1323-26, the cycle of artistic civilization marked by Italian presences came to an end, at least in Cagliari. In the rest of the island, the artistic products of Italian Gothic are gradually replaced by those of Catalan Gothic.
The Iberian imprint is destined to last a long time on the island and is particularly evident in the “retables” (polyptychs painted in tempera on wood) and in the wooden statues in “estofado de oro” (a particular painting technique prepared with gold leaf).
The altarpieces, which incisively mark the 15th and 16th centuries, are replaced by oil paintings on canvas, mainly imported. In the interior decoration of the churches, polychrome marble altars were established in the 18th century, marking the adaptation to baroque fashion.
An authentically Sardinian artistic production developed during the 19th century, mainly thanks to the activities of the sculptor Andrea Galassi and the painter Giovanni Marghinotti. The latter, with his canvases of Sardinian subjects, inaugurates the new cultural course, which will lead art to become increasingly interested in the native values of the island.
The dialectic between tradition and innovation runs, like a red thread, through twentieth-century Sardinian sculpture and painting. Emerging personalities (Francesco Ciusa, Giuseppe Biasi, Filippo Figari, Mario Delitala, the Melis brothers, Eugenio Tavolara, Mauro Manca, Costantino Nivola are just a few of many) contribute to the inclusion of Sardinian productions in the wider framework of international artistic culture.

Update

2/7/2025 - 15:30