Strength, freedom, tenacity but also lightness, speed, respect: the horse is an indissoluble symbol, recurring throughout time, across cultures, myth and history. And, digging even deeper, the horse is intertwined with the human soul and that is also why it unites even those who are so far away. “To the horse binds us an ancestral feeling: it is a legacy of our ancestors and is present in our genes. Men and horses have shared the same history and the same stride for millennia. Today this is no longer the case, yet when we see a horse we instinctively stop, approach, try to connect. There is empathy between man and horse.” This is explained by artist Davide Dall’Osso, who donated the sculpture “Raised with Strength” to the City of Castelfiorentino.
It is precisely the Castelfiorentino area that will host Dall’Osso’s works this year for the fourth edition of the Diffuse Exhibition entitled “Community.” Dall’Osso’s “ex-discards” question the community about the sustainability of the current model of living and consumption, inviting us to think differently about waste and discarded items.
“The horse,” observes Deputy Mayor, Claudia Centi, “has always been an animal rich in fascination and full of meaning. An animal in which history and myth are intertwined through the close connection it has always had with the vicissitudes of humankind. But in this work by artist Davide Dall’Osso, which he generously donated to the Municipality of Castelfiorentino, the reminder of the infinite potential of recovery and recycling, a constant in his works, is really very strong, yet another demonstration of how it is possible to make something really beautiful with the reuse of a simple wire. A beautiful message, then, also of environmental education.”
“An impressive work,” remarked the mayor, Alessio Falorni, “that represents above all a symbol of freedom and rebirth, but also of strength and determination, which is what we need to overcome the difficult and problematic historical period we are living through. So I would like to thank artist Davide Dall’Osso for this gift of his to the people of Castelfiorentino, an artistic work that goes to embellish Piovanelli Park and further enhance the ancient Pieve Wall, repository of the historical roots of our community.”
The Horse, about 4 meters tall and made mostly of hand-woven galvanized iron wires of different sizes, will be placed at the Pieve santi Ippolito e Biagio. An invitation to visit the Pieve, then, but also a message of rebirth for the entire community, which with pride and tenacity has risen again. The large widening of the parish allows a view from the road link below, the modern, fast road that horses no longer travel. Anyone passing by will see this horse rising with strength: this ‘sculptural sign’ can be an omen, a source of strength, a motivation in facing such an uncertain everyday life today. In short, the material and cultural legacy of the territory and the modernity of the infrastructure that bind together, with the Horse, which preserves and speaks of a different world, speed, time and life where man and animal went at the same pace.