THE MASKS AT THE GATE OF INFERNO
THE MASKS AT THE GATE OF INFERNO

Summary/Abstract: In the recent years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, wars, social conflicts, natural disasters, events which deeply disturbed the apparent tranquillity of our world, man had to isolate or get out on the battlefield. Even if troubled times are hostile to artistic creation (“inter arma silent musae”), actors, musicians, writers, painters, etc. fate closes them in the familiar space of the workshop, giving them more time, more solitude to reflect, to create and polish their works. Looking for explanations for everything that happens during the Covid era, re-reading some literary and historical writings or researching images from paintings, graphics, sculptures of past times that immortalized the tragic scenes of man's struggle with diseases and death, it can be concluded that, regardless of the historical era, of culture, of education, the reactions of man overwhelmed by the fear of disease and death are identical. The denial of the existence of evil at the time of the outbreak of plagues, the feverish search for the cause of the origin of diseases, the desperate attempt of man to save himself by running away, isolating himself, the search for refuge and miraculous cures, begging for divine help, etc. they are constant features of human behavior in the history of all waves of epidemics from ancient times until today. When the shadow of Thanatos implacably envelops the universe, the restlessness of the soul darkens the reason, the psychic balance of the individual. And yet, in this sinister game of masks, there is hope that beyond the tragic trials to which man is subjected during pandemics and wars, he finds inner resources to escape danger.

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