Crucifixion of Velàzquez. Painting

Alessandra D’Andrea was born in Atri, in the province of Teramo on November, 6, 1975. Since she was a child she has developed a natural passion for the world of art, which led her to attend an education process started in 1989 at the high school for the arts Guido Montauti in Teramo. She obtained her diploma in 1993 and in 1994 she specialized in Frescoes and Decorations at Enfap (Italian education body for professional training) in Teramo, she took part to the realization of the “Biblical Painted Cycle” for the church of Penna di Sant’Andrea. In the following five years she collaborated with the most prestigious mosaic labs in Abruzzi and she took part to the realization of the Via Crucis and the apse mosaic of the church of San Bernardo in Teramo. This experience put her in contact with the sacred art and her desire to perfect herself pushed her to move to Ravenna, where she obtained the Diploma for Mosaic Designer. There she collaborated with the most famous mosaicists and participated to the “Mosaic Fountain for Beirut”. Mastering this ancient technique, she started to experiment new and modern mosaic techniques for design and architecture. In 2000 she inaugurated her mosaic studio and shop for art and sacred items “Mosaicromie” in Roseto degli Abruzzi, where she added paintings and liturgical accessories to the mosaics: her experience and mastery of the sacred mosaic art brought her to work for public and private customers. The prestigious Gallerie del Mosaico in Rome chose her to make complex mosaics with sacred themes. To complete her studies, she attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in L’Aquila where she showed her installation “Artis Templum Sustinet Caelum” (where art communicates with the environment and users are the protagonists) in a personal exhibition in 2006. She experimented painting and the new multimedia communication techniques and she obtained a remarkable success. She graduated in 2008 with honours in Painting and she created her artwork “I Vizi Capitali” (“The capital vices”), composed by seven sculptures made of various materials. After she finished her education process, she was called by the Capuchin Friars of Assisi to make two important works: the first was the decoration of the apses with a mosaic (apses, tabernacle, Angel, Altar) in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Gualdo Tadino; the second one was the apses mosaic representing the coast at dawn in the Istituto San Francesco in Vasto Marina.