Saint Faustino, a day to celebrate art too

If Saint Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, celebrates "us", Saint Faustino, patron saint of unrequited love, is the time to celebrate "me".
In recent years, February 15th has become known as "Singles' Day", a modern and charming label, somewhat reflective of the times we live in.
Of course, love is beautiful and fulfilling, but let's not forget that most of the greatest masterpieces, both in art and literature, were born from loneliness and unrequited love and pain. So we feel comfortable saying that Saint Faustino can be considered also a celebration of artists, the tormented ones, those who have poured all their love into their art, wielding paintbrushes and well-inked pens.

We think of Dante and his unfulfilled love for Beatrice, who later became his muse for the Divine Comedy and other literary works. We think of Giacomo Leopardi, who wrote of "impossible loves" in his poems, inspiring generations of artists.
We think of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper (1942), the undisputed master of silence on canvas: three customers in a diner late at night, separated from the outside world by a glass wall that seems like an insurmountable barrier. There is no visible door to enter or exit the diner. The solitude here representsed is the kind you feel in big cities, the kind you feel even among crowds: feeling observed but not understood, close but light years away.

We think of the couple depicted in Absinthe, painted in 1876 by Edgar Degas: two figures sitting side by side in a Parisian café, a man and a woman, both alone, alone together. There is no love story, this too is a portrait of urban solitude, of alienation. The woman's gaze is lost in space, overwhelmed by a melancholy that not even the physical proximity of another human being can assuage. Only the glass of absinthe before her seems the solution. The painting shows a sad reality, one of alcohol abuse and social isolation, typical of the Belle Époque.

And we also think of Frida Kahlo, who transformed Diego Rivera's betrayal into powerful and surreal self-portraits. In The Two Fridas (1939), painted immediately after her divorce, the artist depicts two versions of herself: the one Diego loved (in Tehuano dress) and the one he rejected (in a white dress). The rejected Frida has her heart exposed and cut open. The only person who can hold her hand to comfort her is her other version. It is the image of the loneliness of those who must find strength in themselves and be self-sufficient after a great heartbreak.

Art teaches us that loneliness and unrequited love should not necessarily be seen as a defeat, but rather as an invitation to personal growth and an opportunity to learn to love oneself. Dedicating time to your art is a way to love yourself a little, cultivating your passion and channeling your thoughts and suffering into an artwork that, perhaps, one day might be of comfort to others.
Today in particular, we want to celebrate all those tormented artists who opened their hearts, putting them on display on canvas for the whole world to see. So that we too, centuries later, can see ourselves reflected in them and feel a little more understood, a little less alone.
To love others, you must first know how to love yourself, so let's celebrate this "singles" day! Happy San Faustino to all the artists and free spirits out there!