artreimagined project for
domquartier museum salzburg 2025

#ArtReimagined is a photographic project that began in 2024 from the collaboration between Zaira Zarotti and Anna Attems (@kunstfueruns).
Our goal is to bring the spirit of (old) masterpieces from museum collections to life through artistically staged photographs. By sharing insights about the artists and their works, we aim to highlight the treasures of art history and spark curiosity in our audience.
Social media offers a unique opportunity to share art with people around the world. Every day, thousands—if not millions—of individuals engage with art through Instagram.
This project was born from the desire to bring as many people as possible closer to the world of art through social media by sharing meaningful content—original works of art in their own right.

The project in the #ArtReImagined series was created for @domquartier on the occasion of the exhibition "Face to Face. 19th-Century Austrian Portrait Painting," on view from 6 June to 29 September 2025.
The painting I chose to reimagine, featured in this exhibition, is Friedrich von Amerling’s Portrait of a Gentleman (1832).

Artist statement:

When @domquartier invited me to explore their archive of masterpieces and choose one to reimagine, I found myself scrolling through centuries of faces, gestures, and gazes.
And then I stopped. “But I know him!”
There he was, staring back at me from 1832—Friedrich von Amerling’s Portrait of a Gentleman. The resemblance to my friend Stefano was uncanny, as if time had simply folded over itself. He looked like he had just stepped out of another era!

Amerling, one of the most sought-after portraitists of 19th-century Vienna, had an eye for timelessness. Trained in Vienna, Prague, and London, he blended the elegance of Biedermeier with a quiet theatricality. In this painting, he dressed his model in 17th-century Dutch attire—a nod to the golden age of portraiture.

With Stefano, I brought this portrait back to life—not as a replica, but as an echo. A visual dialogue across time.
This is what #ArtReimagined is about: discovering the invisible threads that connect us to the past, and letting art breathe again through a new lens.

The second painting I chose to reimagine, part of the DomQuartier's permanent collection, is A Basket of Flowers by Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1636–1699).

Artist statement:

A Basket of Flowers, reimagined.

To truly understand a painting, one must first learn to observe—not just glance, but dwell. Linger on the petals, trace the veins of each leaf, let your gaze fall into the shadows between blooms. It is in this slow, attentive looking that a world begins to unfold.

For this image, created for the #ArtReImagined project for @domquartier, I recreated the composition and setting of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer’s lush, intricate still life—photographing it with care to echo the texture, abundance, and light that define his work.

The goal was not to produce a perfect replica—such a thing would be impossible—but to enter into the mood of the original painting, and to evoke its essence in a contemporary form.
This reimagining is a fully human-made endeavor, shaped by many skilled hands and thoughtful eyes. The backdrop and the table’s ornamental base were hand-painted by my mother @dorinapetronio, in a gesture of quiet devotion to the textures of time. The exquisite paper flowers were crafted by @curiosite_artisanale, petal by petal, echoing Monnoyer’s botanical precision. And @kunstfueruns, with her vision and sensitivity, brought essential insight and direction to the project’s visual and conceptual heart.
No AI. Only eyes, minds, and hands—each one real, present, and moved by a shared reverence for the silent eloquence of painting.