After a lengthy collaboration with various publications and conceptual artists during the 1970s, Elisabetta Catalano gained recognition as a portraitist in the world of art and performance. From Michelangelo Pistoletto to Vettor Pisani, Fabio Mauri, Sandro Chia, Minimo Rotella and Cesare Tacchi, Catalano demonstrates a talent for interpreting the identity of the leading figures of the contemporary art world, using the portrait to shed light on artistic ideas and research. In this image Giuseppe Penone, one of the leading figures of Arte Povera, is photographed inside his permanent installation at the MAXXI, Sculture di linfa (2007). Penone is captured during the set up of the installation, prior to its completion: in the background is the wall covered in large pieces of leather, while the floor is covered with sculpted slabs of marble. These set pieces condense and contextualise the portrait of Penone inside his installation in progress.