The “Hortus” Fountain by artist Agostino Iacurci drawing inspiration from the myth of Paradise, is made in enamelled Impruneta terracotta, and is located inside a seven steel-and-neon ring structure reminiscent of Dante’s seven circles of heaven and is exhibited in the Baroque Chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute until the 4th of February.
Thanks to a temporary loan from the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci of Prato, visitors can now admire the sculpture inspired by a miniature representing the “Garden of Love or Hortus with the Fountain of Youth” contained in the “De Sphaera” manuscript (end of the 15th century), one of the most fascinating illustrated astrological books of the Renaissance. Of the original design, the work preserves the layout that, in the sculpture, appears to be sketched out of scale, assuming the appearance of a large parabolic antenna or a sort of “alien obelisk” that induces one to ponder over the universal myth of Paradise and its significance in a world in which Nature is being progressively plundered. The perpetual motion of the water in the fountain symbolises a possible palingenesis. The work was realized by the Apulian artist Agostino Iacurci, one of the winners of the Under-35 Section of the “Cantica 21 Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere” contest launched by the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation with the aim of promoting research and practice in the field of contemporary visual arts.
