January 13, 2013. (Romereports.com) Famed artist Leonardo da Vinci, the master of Renaissance humanism, and Qi Baishi, the master of modern Chinese art, sit face to face for an imaginary conversation in a room within Rome's Palazzo Venezia.

The two bronze statues are signed by Wu Weishan, one of the most important Chinese sculptor today, which uses his work to bridge the two worlds.


DANIELA PORRO
Superintendent, Polo Museale Romano
“It represents a dialogue between one of the greatest artist of the Renaissance, like Leonardo, and one of the most important artists of the past century in China. In other words, it's the artist of the past, from the Renaissance, talking with the artist of the recent Chinese past. It's also a philosophical dialogue.”

The dialogue between China and the West is one of the common themes in the exhibit, titled “Sculpting the soul of a nation.” Wu Weishan also delves into the suffering of his homeland, sculpting images of the Nanjing massacre, and the cruelty at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army.

DANIELA PORRO
Superintendent, Polo Museale Romano
“It was a tremendous massacre against the Chinese people in 1937, by the Japanese. It's estimated that nearly 300,000 people died in Nanjing, including children.”

Wu Weishan took sculpting classes in Europe and the United States, which opened up new horizons for him, creatively speaking. His works are open to experimentation. Since 1998, his sculptures have been displayed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.


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