A Letter from the Renaissance: The Double Soul, Ariel Soulé/Simon Toparovsky

Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564. Autograph letter fragment in the hand of Michelangelo, 1533. UCLA Library Special Collections | Used by permission

"In one thousand five hundred thirty-three I record that today 22 September I went to Santo Miniato al Tedesco to talk to Pope Clement who was going to Nice and on the same day Brother Sebastiano del Piombo left a horse of his for me."

Michelangelo's string of words kept at the UCLA Library as a fragment of DNA rekindles the spirit of the time, the late Italian Renaissance, bringing to light historical figures and events, works of art, feats of arms and power. Faced with a thousand ex­amples of the duality of the Renaissance soul, two artists, Ariel Soulé and Simon Toparovsky, who have for years represented the double soul of art, combining painting and sculpture, interpret well-considered themes with contemporary works representing a logical connection between the idea of the world of the Renaissance and the contemporary world.

Soulé and Toparovsky, who each live and work in Milan and Los Angeles, have created installations in major public spaces. This is their first public collaboration in the United States.

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