If the only Italian artists you know share names with the Ninja Turtles, here is a chance to see one that isn’t.In an exhibition titled “Heroic Quests: The Allegorical Paintings of Bruno d’Arcevia,” a more modern Italian artist is displaying his artwork at the Hopkins Hall Gallery and Corridor at Ohio State. Bruno d’Arcevia is an Italian artist in the Neo-Mannerism movement. Neo-Mannerism is about combining science and art, and mythology and history, said Prudence Gill, Hopkins Hall Gallery curator. The idea is not to view the painting for its objective or figurative reality, she explained. It’s not so much the visual aspect, but rather the concept behind the work, that is the most important part of the art. Neo-Mannerism – or new mannerism – artists are generally known for their acception of art as art. To them, if their art is accepted, it has value. They borrow ideas from all kinds of epochs. As a new movement, Neo-Mannerism strays from the traditional style of Mannerism which uses distortion of the body and limbs and the unrealistic use of space in their artwork. Instead, Neo-Mannerism combines ideas from all over the art history plateau. For example, they can combine 16th-century themes, such as mythology, with modern 20th-century themes, such as science and technology.The exhibition consists of 10 oil paintings and five ink-and-wash studies. The gallery isn’t the only place in Hopkins Hall where the exhibit can be seen. The corridor is lined with a display showcasing advancement in anatomy, medical devices and medical documentary, which was donated by the Medical Heritage Center of the Ohio State University Medical Center. D’Arcevia follows the traditional way of using nude, milky-white figures in his work. After meeting with Mauro Ferrari, a professor and the director of Biomedical Engineering at OSU, d’Arcevia included some modern science aspects to his work. D’Arcevia’s encounter with Ferrari, who is primarily a researcher in biomedical engineering and nanotechnology, led to many inspirations in his paintings. In one of d’Arcevia’s work, “The Ring for the Hydra,” Odin, the Germanic god of war, wisdom and poetry is encircled by the magic Nibelungen Ring. In this painting, the ring is a metaphor for Ferrari’s drug-delivery device for fighting cancer. An image of the Biblical figure Veronica, who in Christian tradition cleansed the face of Jesus Christ on the way to the Calvary is also in the painting. She symbolizes the curative qualities of the antibody. A poison is released from Odin’s shield targeting Hydra, a monster of many heads, which represents the tumor. Two Tritons, attendants to the god of the sea, carry the ring in the blood stream.Another work which consists of a series of paintings, “The Miracle of Fire,” “The Miracle of Pearls,” “Toward the Solution” and “Final Solution,” use the goddesses of fire, sea, earth and air, along with ample symbolism, to chronicle the production of a promising medical microdevice, which was created by Ferrari to treat diabetes. The other paintings also have a the same combination of science and art. It takes some close observation to grasp this and to understand what d’Arcevia is attempting to say. The ink-and wash-studies, or pen-and-ink drawings, are less detailed but still fascinating. There is also a 10-minute video with d’Arcevia in his Rome studio working on his pieces.D’Arcevia’s exhibition, Heroic Quests: The Allegorical Paintings of Bruno d’Arecvia is showing is Hopkins Hall Gallery and Corridor through Oct. 12. D’Arcevia is scheduled to give a gallery talk on Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibition is free and is open to the public. The exhibit will next be shown at the Caldwell-Snyder Gallery in San Francisco, so go get some culture while you still can.