''The Nostalgia of the Infinite'' ( it, La nostalgia dell'infinito, link=no) is a painting by Italian metaphysical painter

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

, painted in the early 1910s. The subject of the painting is a large tower. The scene is struck by low, angular evening light. In the foreground below the tower are two small shadowy figures resembling those in future works by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. This painting is the most famous example of the tower theme which appears in several of Chirico's works. Although the painting is dated 1911, this date is generally held in question. It has been speculated by the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City that it was created from 1912 to 1913, while the Annenberg School for Communication suggests 1913–14. According to art historian Robert Hughes, the painting draws inspiration from the

Mole Antonelliana The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Italy.

Legacy

This painting, amongst other works by Giorgio de Chirico, influenced the painting by

Fumito Ueda is a Japanese video game designer. Ueda is best known as the director and lead designer of '' Ico'' (2001) and ''Shadow of the Colossus'' (2005) while leading Team Ico at Japan Studio, and ''The Last Guardian'' (2016) through his own development ...

used for the front cover of the Japanese and European versions of the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Ico is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito U ...

''.

References

External links

''The Nostalgia of the Infinite'' on the Museum of Modern Art
1910s paintings Architecture paintings Paintings by Giorgio de Chirico Paintings in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) {{20C-painting-stub