On the occasion of the first day of the “Doubles”, presentation of the sculpture-installations of the “Secret Garden” created as part of the project “Holy First Free Women”.
They look like dancers, but they are actually dreamlike figures. They represent that “Secret Garden” that is revealed precisely in the dream, the moment in which we are able to come into contact with our deepest intimacy, a precious source of inspiration for the path we intend to follow in our lives. These are the twenty sculptures created by the artist Davide Dall’Osso and dedicated to Saint Verdiana, the patron saint of Castelfiorentino, which were presented yesterday on the lawn in front of the Sanctuary on the occasion of the first day of the “Doubles”, the traditional prayer in preparation for the celebration of the patron saint, which occurs on February 1st.
The presentation was attended – in addition to the artist and the curator Maria Vittoria Gozio (Atelier Dall’Osso) – by the Provost Don Alessandro Lombardi, the Mayor Alessio Falorni, the Deputy Mayor in charge of Culture Claudia Centi, and Professor Francesca Allegri.
The installation – entitled “Secret Garden” – is the first of a series of events that Atelier Dall’Osso, in collaboration with the Propositura di Santa Verdiana, the Municipality of Castelfiorentino and local associations, will take place in the period between the two liturgical anniversaries linked to the “Saint”, that is, February 1st and the Monday after Pentecost (this year on June 6th) as part of the project “Sante prime donne libere” (Holy first free women), which takes its cue from the title of the recent book by Francesca Allegri, dedicated to women who made their own “life choices beyond their time”.
The twenty dancing female figures, which take on particularly evocative contours at night, represent the “Secret Garden”, “an open-ended place – as the curator Maria Vittoria Gozio recalls – that is part of each of us and that sometimes is revealed to us, but only in dreams. A place of empathy, where everyone can become what they know deep down they can be. It tells of a choice of emancipation”. The same choice made by women who were later recognized as Sante, such as Verdiana degli Attavanti. “Saints, therefore – as Francesca Allegri observed in her book – not so much in relation to their faith, but as women who, precisely through faith, were able to free themselves from the nooses that education, tradition and widespread beliefs had prepared for them”.
“Several times Pope Francis – observed the Provost, Don Alessandro Lombardi – has stressed the richness and the peculiarity of the contribution of women in the life of the Church and the entire society. St. Verdiana for us is anything but an unknown woman, the castellans feel her as a sister and friend and know how true it is that with her very existence she left a deep imprint in the city of her time, in the lives of her contemporaries and how even today, eight centuries later, the strength of her testimony has a strong voice and evergreen charm, as suggested in a certain way by the name she bears. I am happy that her life experience, together with that of so many other saintly women of our land, can become a reason for everyone to reflect on the freedom that flourishes whenever a person realizes the plan of life that carries with it.
“We are happy – noted the Mayor, Alessio Falorni – to have presented this work by Davide Dall’Osso, which marks the beginning of a larger project that aims to involve the associative fabric of our territory. It is a project that springs from the encounter between the sensitivity of the artist and the story of Verdiana degli Attavanti, the patron saint of Castelfiorentino, a symbol of spiritual devotion but also of emancipation, whose earthly dimension is also enhanced in this case. From the meanings that emerge in this work – concluded the Mayor – we can also derive a precious message, to be delivered to the new generations: that of cultivating their dreams, pursuing their most secret aspirations. A message, therefore, as relevant as ever.
photo: Marco Mangini (photographic group “Giglio Rosso”)