Swiss-Italian photographer Christian Tagliavini’s fascination with the Renaissance helps unearth tales from his favourite painters—providing modern commentary on the iconic period. But history is just one tool in this master craftsman’s toolbox.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTIAN TAGLIAVINI 

Christian Tagliavini doesn’t just take pictures—he builds them. When we talked with him, he easily rattled off the steps behind each image: finding the right characters, the months of drawing shape and colour, finding the right materials, producing the intricate hats and costumes, and so forth. The whole experience is very tactile. ‘I like working with hands and feel the materials,’ Tagliviani explains, ‘their texture, their perfume, and their noise.’ However, anyone familiar with his work knows that the elements that he builds from are not merely physical, but historical as well.