We came to refer to this frame as Santa Maria Novella, after the façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, designed by Leon Battista Alberti. As we worked through the design, that reference became increasingly present—not as a source of motifs, but as a way of thinking about how proportion, surface, and symbolic elements can be brought into alignment within a single structure.

The Rucellai insignia, most often represented by the sail, entered the work in that context. Although the church itself was not designed for the Rucellai family, Alberti incorporated their emblem into the façade as part of a broader cultural moment shaped by commerce, navigation, and the expanding reach of exchange in the Renaissance world. The sail carries that sense of movement and outward connection, and within the frame it begins to function as a point of interval and orientation within the structure.

The design developed through the interaction between the U-type arabesque and this underlying order. The arabesque establishes continuity across the surface, allowing the pattern to unfold with a measured sense of flow, while the structure governs its movement through proportion and spacing. As we worked through the composition, it became important to maintain that balance so the field would remain continuous without losing clarity. In pierced form, these relationships become more apparent. Light passes through the structure and begins to activate the pattern, drawing shadow into the composition and giving definition to the intervals between elements. The surface reads as both continuous and open, with void and material working together.

What emerges is a frame in which arabesque movement and architectural order develop in relation to one another. The surface carries a sense of continuity and rhythm, while the structure maintains clarity and restraint, allowing the work to remain grounded even at its most intricate.