Bestiarium presents a cycle of works in which Francesco Clemente revisits the historical genre of the bestiary—traditionally a compendium of animals charged with symbolic meaning—and translates it into a contemporary painterly language.

Rather than illustrating zoological reality, Clemente constructs a subjective and psychological menagerie in which animals appear as metaphors for states of mind, desire, vulnerability and transformation.

The works combine figuration with stylisation, drawing on sources ranging from medieval iconography and mythological imagery to non-Western visual traditions. Clemente’s animals often hover between the recognizable and the imaginary, dissolving stable categories of species, identity and narrative. In this sense, Bestiarium operates less as taxonomy than as a symbolic system.

Color, line and surface play a central role. The compositions emphasize immediacy and intimacy, while the recurring animal figures function as alter egos or spiritual counterparts. Through this strategy, Clemente continues his long-standing exploration of identity, the body and transcendence, positioning painting as a site where biography, myth and cultural memory intersect.

Rather than presenting a coherent moral allegory—as historical bestiaries did—the project foregrounds ambiguity. The animal becomes a vehicle for exploring fragility, instinct and the porous boundary between human and non-human experience.