The Ardita cow among the Brunello vineyards has fallen down
Ardita, trekking d'autore tra i vigneti del Casato Prime Donne Montalcino
The beautiful travertine silhouette designed by the architect Marco Pignattai in 2004 and positioned in the Sangiovese vineyards at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino is now sadly lying on the groundSo similar was the sculpture a cow in flesh and blood that many looked at it as if it were a real Chianina cow ploughing the field in front of the winery. That was the effect that the young architect from Montalcino had tried to produce.
His work of art was part of the new “landscape art” or Land Art , cultural proposal in harmony with the landscape and the environment which in this case expresses itself with the use of local materials such as travertine or even historical pieces such as the antique plough pulled by the cow. Even the protagonist of the work of art is in harmony with the local history; here the cows have ploughed for centuries the fields of the Val d’Orcia.
With Marco Pignattai Ardita we began the “Prime Donne “ trail path in the Sangiovese vineyards where the Brunello wine is born. An itinerary that in the last few years has been enriched with other pieces of contemporary art and quotations by the “super women” winners of the Casato Prime Donne Award: Carla Fendi fashion stylist, Samantha Cristoforetti astronaut, Ilaria Capua virologist, Carla Fracci prima donna ballerina…
Three days ago the Ardita cow had a structural failing and literally fell to the ground. The cow’s legs
Ardita, Land Art nei vigneti di Brunello, Casato Prime Donne
have broken under her own weight. We are now studying whether to mend her or if it might be better to substitute the travertine silhouette with a steel one. This however points out the fragility of contemporary art, that compared to those of the 14th or 15th century need continuously to be checked, and worked on to be able to preserve them.
Last year we had some problems with the 4 gigantic photographs called “Foemina” by Bruno Bruchi and Giovanni Senatore, before that we had trouble with the waves in honour of the Olympic winner Josefa Idem, canoeist, which had been created by Stefano Carlucci. In other words “no rest in the vineyards” >> says Donatella Cinelli Colombini with a smile, pointing out that her intention is to carry on helping young Tuscan artists and the local countryside together