Il Culto delle Pietre
Permanent work by Andreco
at the Area della Fontana Vecchia, Oriolo Romano
Curated by Cantieri d’Arte
In 2023 the recovery project of the Area della Fontana Vecchia, promoted by the
municipal administration with the support of the Lazio Region under the Public Notice
intended for Small Municipalities “Un paese ci vuole,” was inaugurated in Oriolo
Romano.
The project involved the recovery of the fountain of 16th-century origin, one of the
earliest minor public works in the history of Oriolo and the surrounding area, with the
creation also of a sculptural complex by Andreco, by Arci Viterbo/Cantieri d’Arte.
The work on the fountain included treating stone surfaces and plasterwork, restoring
water flow, and replacing non-original parts with salvaged stones.
The work was preceded by archaeological tests that unearthed an original spoil from the
15th-16th centuries.
The historical importance of this area as a water supply site for the territory led the artist
invited by Cantieri d’Arte, Andreco, to reflect on the centrality of water as a fundamental
resource to be preserved and managed. For this reason, his intervention “Il Culto delle
Pietre” realizes a contemplative space, in which to immerse oneself to be in this
landscape, to “become landscape” in dialogue with all the beings that inhabit it. The
sculptures dislocated in the space on oval slabs of corten, create a rhythm, a kind of
dance of opposing tensions with the sculpted volumes that recall mineral forms, an
imaginary geology that leads us symbolically to reflect on the issues of water scarcity, to
be in contact with the problems and transformations taking place.
In all ancient cultures, the deity of water is celebrated as the source of life, the mother of
all beings. Andreco conceives his intervention as a ritual space, evocative of an
imaginative cult, of the nonhuman, in which there is an unveiling of subterranean forms,
chthonic deities, in which fluid and solid mix and interpenetrate.
Indeed, these are images open to different interpretations, mysterious, made by the artist
a symbol of a tribute to water and the need for action to save the earth.
The project was directed by Architect Roberta Postiglioni and included the intervention of
Archaeologist Roberta Ferrini, the Bergamini company and the art project curation by
Arci Viterbo/Cantieri d’Arte.
