Conversation with Anotonello was produced for Soundscapes, a 2015 exhibition at the National Gallery (London), in which 6 artists were commissioned to create responses to a work from their collection. Conversation with Antonello is Cardiff and Miller’s response to Antonello da Messina’s ‘Saint Jerome in his Study’ (1475).

Cardiff and Miller created an installation work that attempts to understand the creative process and the architectural space of Messina’s painting by reconstructing it in a 3-dimensional architectural model. Through the front archway of the wooden structure the viewers are able to see the intricate interior of the monastery, some of the props that adorn the painting and even the exterior pastoral landscape visible through the far windows of the model.

The space is further brought to life with lighting and sounds effects. As the viewer examines the work, the lighting slowly shifts from daylight to evening. Corresponding sounds from the hypothetical landscape surround the viewer. You hear the footsteps of an unknown person, perhaps the painter or artist’s model, as they make their way through the landscape and into the interior space of the monastery. The voice of a counter tenor, Bernhard Landauer, singing Vergine Bella (Guillaume DuFay, 1397-1474) can be heard within the structure wandering through it’s halls.

Credits

• Production Coordinator: Zev Tiefenbach
• Fabrication Assistants: Maryke Simmonds, Robyn Moody
• Prop Painter: David Janzen
• Vocalist: Bernhard Landauer
• Composition: Vergine Bella, Guillaume DuFay (1397-1474)
• Tonmeister: Titus Manderlechner
• Installation Assistant: Carlo Crovato