In The Decameron, Pasolini appeared as a disciple of the early Renaissance artist Giotto, commissioned to paint a fresco for the church in a Neapolitan town. This is how Pasolini looked on himself: as an artist, and as a disciple of past masters. In his films, images of Renaissance art are constantly evoked through visual cues.
The Supper Table: The wedding banquet scene in the beginning of Mamma Roma, as compared to Domenico Ghirlandaio's Last Supper.
The Landscape of the Agony: Pasolini uses desert settings much in the same way as the Holy Land is depicted in Renaissance art.
The Madonna: I suppose Pasolini could not resist making reference to one of the most frequently depicted subject matters in all Christian art.
The Crucifixion: Nor could he resist this subject matter, for the death of Ettore, in Mamma Roma.
Bibliography for Pasolini stills:
--Greene, Naomi, Pier Paolo Pasolini; Cinema as Heresy. Princeton University Press, 1990.
--di Giusti, Luciano, i film di Pier Paolo Pasolini. Gremese Editore, 1983.
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