Neapolitan artist Maurizio Cannavacciuolo is known for his puzzlelike paintings and wall drawings that densely intertwine decorative patterns, sketches of architectural elements, and images of humans and animals. A recent participant in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s artist-in-residence program, which was founded in 1992 to showcase contemporary art in a gallery separate from the unchanging permanent collection, Cannavacciuolo (selected by contemporary curator Pieranna Cavalchini to help celebrate the museum’s centennial) spent his fall 2003 residency studying and photographing the museum’s