Il sonno di Turan

The work is a homage to Turan, the Etruscan goddess of love and vitality, whose symbols evoke generative force and renewal. The goddess is caught in a symbolic sleep, suspended between memory and rebirth: on waking, the energy of the love she embodies radiates out and dissolves the shadows of war, freeing human beings from pain. The painting thus tells of the transformative power of love, an ancient light that crosses time and continues to point the way to peace.

Turan is shown lying on her side, reflected in water or in a mirror: her profile merges with that of the hill of Riparbella looking out over the Tyrrhenian Sea. The work thus becomes a monument to the area and to the resilient community of Riparbella, a community that over the centuries has been able to guard its own authenticity and today, through art and beauty, to reassert its identity, in spite of the challenges and the depopulation of the countryside.

Three symbols accompany the goddess. A black swan embracing her: the struggle between good and evil, but also mystery, the unconscious, the unexpected event that can change history for ever. The pomegranate, a symbol of fertility. The white dove, a symbol of peace.

The mural runs across several façades of the gym of the primary and nursery school in Riparbella. For that very reason, and given the historical moment we are living through, the theme of the Liberation from Fascism has been turned more towards liberation understood as love, peace, freedom from all forms of oppression.

The work was made possible by funding from the Tuscany Region, awarded through the call “Regional Council measures for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation and for the commemoration of the victims of Nazi-Fascist massacres”.