''Our Lady of Fátima''
This work is part of the collection of the Museum of the Sanctuary of Fátima
This work is part of the collection of the Museum of the Sanctuary of Fátima. The author of the painting is Maestro Raffaele Ciotola.
The painting was created after careful research focused on the testimonies of the three shepherd children after the apparition of the Madonna.
''SAINT BONAVENTURE FROM BAGNOREGIO''
CARDINAL, BISHOP OF ALBANO, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND FRANCISCAN
This artwork is part of the Cathedral of Santi Nicola, Donato e Bonaventura di Bagnoregio - Viterbo. In this painting, the artist Raffaele Ciotola depicted ''San Bonaventura'' in a majestic way to highlight the royal soul of a special Saint on all fronts, religious/cultural.
He was bishop of Albano and doctor of the Church, shone with religious doctrine and lived a life of holiness at the service of the Church.
A man of great charisma who managed with great faith to contemplate the Divine Essence of God, a precious goal that makes San Bonaventura a great character of Christian culture.
Pictorial work created by Maestro Raffaele Ciotola.
'' The Prophet Muhammad ''
Muhammad (Arabic: مُحَمَّد; c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief.
Muhammad was born in approximately 570 CE in Mecca.
SAN GENNARO PATRON OF NAPLES
The Feast of San Gennaro is celebrated on 19 September in the General Roman Calendar of the Catholic Church. In the Eastern Church, it is celebrated on 21 April. The city of Naples has more than fifty official patron saints, although its principal patron is Saint Januarius.
In the United States, the Feast of San Gennaro is also a highlight of the year for New York's Little Italy, with the saint's polychrome statue carried through the middle of a street fair stretching for blocks.
The artist Raffaele Ciotola was born in Naples on the 17th of October 1964. His loving and receptive family promoted his studies and supported supporting his artistic nature. He obtained the Artistic High School School graduation and got the Master of Arts degree at the state institute of Arts "Filippo Palizzi" in Naples in 1983. Since he was a boy he has been devoting his life to painting in a professional manner; after his debut in 1980 at an exhibition in his hometown, he kept on taking part in other collective and personal exhibitions set up in several Italian cities until 2002 (Piano di Sorrento, St. Anne in Naples, Milano, Viterbo, Milan). He was awarded the gold medal at the National Biennial of Sacred Art in Torre del Greco in 1980 by prof. Mr Franco Girosi, a famous Neaolitan artist of the last century. It was foundamental for his training, the meetings with prof. Mr Franco Girosi and with Mr Luigi Signore, an artist known as one of the best sculptors of cribs in Italy today.
He studied music and attended the voice class at the Conservatory of Naples, but the meeting he had in Rome in 1987 with Master Mr Renato Guelfi, opera singer and painter, was so crucial to his professional growth that he started performing as a singer in some Italian theatres (Lecce, Santa Maria di Leuca, Ronciglione, Villa Pignatelli in Naples). He got to obtained some rewards such as: the gold medal in "La Triade" Prize, Palazzo Sormani - Sala del Grechetto - Milano; the diploma of honor at St. Anastasia, Naples. His personal exhibition in Tuscia dates back to 2002 , in this occasion he exhibited for the first time at the Sala Anselmi in Viterbo. His painting style and production are characterized by an intense use of colours and by the chiaroscuro effects conveying a whole creative freedom and a boundless vital energy, without hiding any strong and eloquent emotion, leaving the viewer a hope, a light , the one that leads beyond any solitude and that blurs roles and social conventions.
In fact, from the late 90s, his work is more focused on topical issues and feels the effect of his civil commitment against homophobia and discriminatory behaviors, so it became a vehicle to spread some nonconformist messages, even inspired by universal ethical values. In 2003 he created the artistic movement called "Stop Homoph Art" which aims to spread the culture of respect and fight against homophobia. From this battle, "The Madonna of the homosexuals" came to life, it became the emblematic work of his production and will be exhibited for the first time in the foyer of the Mercadante Theater in Naples on the 18th of October 2014.
So his landscapes and his dreamlike hermetic metaphysical views of the first period, they have been gradually replaced by works full of reflection and judgment which are well received by public and by critics, attracting the attention of Mr Jean-Louis Cougnon, Chief Excecutive at General Managment of European Parliament.
Raffaele Ciotola is the creator of two artistic movements, ''STOP HOMOPH ART'' the art against homophobia and ''ROCK ART CIOTOLA'' the art that embellishes famous people in the world (Tattoos, Piercings, etc. )
* TusciaWeb - The work '' MAOMETTO '' dedicated to all the Muslim community.
* Tuscia Web - The '' COVID-19 '' work dedicated to all the victims of the Coronavirus.
* The work of art " Italy against racism " dedicated to the fight against "racism" which was appreciated by correspondence by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella.
* '' San Bonaventura da Bagnoregio '' the work is exhibited in the Co-Cathedral of Saints Nicola, Donato and Bonaventura - Bagnoregio - Viterbo.
* The work of art '' Our Lady of Fátima '' is OFFICIALLY part of the Fátima Museum COLLECTION.
* Catalog of the international artists of Tuscia - Viterbo - Italy.
* Book '' Raffaele Ciotola and his vitalism '' Ediz. Mondadori, Feltrinelli, IBS, University bookstore.