Art dialogue: About the reception of the Classics with Artist in Residence Elisa Pesapane

In this art dialogue, the Dutch-Italian artist Elisa Pesapane will be interviewed by Dr Susanna de Beer (Director of Ancient Studies and Classical Receptions at KNIR) about the practices and genesis of her work, the interaction between art and scholarship, and the inspiration drawn from Italy’s historical and contemporary inhabitants. Part of her work-in-progress will also be on display.

Elisa Pesapane studied at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (KABK) and Italian language and culture at Universiteit Leiden. Her monumental drawings and paintings are “tragicomedies written with images instead of words”, in which, beneath the surface, new human stories continually emerge about birth and expectation, joy, shame, failure, hope, death and despair. During her residency at the KNIR (2025-26), Elisa Pesapane works towards an exhibition 'Odysseus and the Drowned and the Saved', which will be on display at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden from 11 June to 1 November 2026. Just like her homonymous publication, this exhibition is inspired by Etruscan art, classical narratives and life experience, and combines drawing, literature and material heritage.