By Danelia Rodriguez Santana
While walking through the streets of Florence, I encountered an interesting sight. Agroup of construction workers were working with a crane to place what seemed to be a fake tree trunk in the middle of Piazza della Signoria. It seemed to be something important as there were police and reporters around the construction site.
Locals got close and took pictures and videos with their smartphones. I was not sure what was going on but assumed I would know once it was installed. As the days went by I was able to see the different steps of the process of bringing this installation to life. Workers added branches and metal poles to the tree whose shape and form started to come together.
I later discovered that in recent years many artists have exhibited their installations in the piazza, and in this particular case the sculpture celebrated the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. The tree symbolizes one of the passages of the Paradiso (“that tree that thrives / from summit down, bears constant fruit and never loses leaf”). The tree is attributed to Piedmontese artist Giusseppe Penone and is a preview of his upcoming exhibition at the Uffizi this Summer (June 1, 2021-September 12, 2021). At 22 meters tall, it is the tallest sculpture to have been installed in a central area of Florence.
After visiting the piece myself, I would say it has the ability to be both modern but not in a way as to alienate its surroundings. Its style and tone are able to blend well with the square and its sculptures. I hope to see more installations in other spaces in Florence. As we anticipate the reopening of museums, seeing other ways of how art and viewers interact in the meantime is a positive experience.