Gino Severini became involved in mosaic art and entered into a working relationship with the Ravenna mosaicist Giuseppe Salietti in the early 1930s for the decoration of the Church of St. Pierre in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Designing mosaics gave him the opportunity not only to approach the spirituality of Christianity, to which he had converted in previous years, but also to appreciate the pictorial practices of the avant-garde that had marked his artistic development. This he did both through his work as an artist in the fields of architecture and decoration and by taking advantage of the opportunity to rethink art in relation to a craft of a choral nature with social implications.
The relationship between Severini, the Ravenna Academy of Fine Arts and the Mosaicists’ Group intensified after the Second World War. Severini was awarded the title of Academician of Honour in 1948 and there were also many opportunities for working together both by carrying out either architectural works or easel paintings and in the field of teaching, as evidenced by a brief but intense activity at the Italian Art School in Paris.
Also prolific as a critic and a theorist, Severini did not neglect any opportunity to draw attention to the specific qualities of Ravenna mosaics, particularly those from the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, highlighting their power to enhance light, colour and matter.