A Breath of Art: Stella Rochetich's Work and the Magic of the Woods in the Village of Pratovecchio

Arezzo, July 28, 2025 – A breath of art: Stella Rochetich's work and the magic of the woods in the village of Pratovecchio.

Mariae Nivis 1567, the cultural and artistic initiative of the Freschi and Vangelisti families, founded in and for the village of Pratovecchio, supported the sixth edition of Una Boccata d'Arte, the national contemporary art project conceived by the Elpis Foundation, which annually brings the creativity of 20 artists to 20 Italian villages. Pratovecchio Stia, home of the Casentinesi Forests National Park, was chosen for Tuscany in 2025, with a project by Stella Rochetich, curated by Gabriele Tosi, entitled "Gli alberi non vagano."

The work—a sort of gigantic egg with cracks emerging from it, allowing one to draw in the aroma released by the hermit beetle, a rare insect that lives in decaying wood, to attract females—has been permanently placed in the fountain in Piazza Jacopo Landino.

The installation is inspired by this insect that lives silently in the Casentino woods, and especially by the pheromone it releases to attract females. Stella Rochetich's starting point for this installation is the love and fertility of the village of Pratovecchio, connected to nature.

Stella tells us about it like this: "The idea didn't come from a single moment but from a series of fragments that came to me from the people of the village and were returned to me during the artistic residency. I'm talking about the Director of the Park, Andrea Gennai, but also other people like Denise Vangelisti. When I learned of the existence of the hermit osmoderma, I knew which path to take. So I worked on a dual visual and olfactory track. Working with smell is a way to reclaim our bodies. For me, art has a generative dimension that opens up to thought and further insights, which are not a point of arrival but of beginning.

It was a whole process of discovery that led to the creation of the work “Gli alberi non vagano” (Trees Don’t Wander), which links the forest and the village.

The work was born from a collaborative process that brought together many souls from the same village. The egg of life and fertility is a ceramic container, a rare, hollow skeleton inside which ampoules have been glued like gullies within the void. These ampoules are injected with the essence, the pheromone molecule, used for an insect conservation project.

Stella explains her creative and production process as follows: "The molecule is the chemical element that is part of my research and gives it substance. Olfactory seduction was a very interesting aspect for me in aligning the village and the forest and allowing this openness, this fertility of life, love, and art, to arise here. Pratovecchio and its village enter my artistic life during a period of experimentation and discovery. I can say that, for me, art serves the purpose of highlighting issues; it doesn't provide answers or solutions, but rather questions, raises doubts, and shuffles the deck. I therefore hope that a dialectical and, as such, positive action will emerge from this work, one that can make us reflect on the new role of small villages in reviving an idea of life in perpetual openness."

The hermit beetle gets its name from the Russian leathery scent emitted by males to attract females. Adults are small, 2–3 cm long, with dark backs, and emerge between June and July. The larvae, which develop in 2–3 years, are saproxylophagous and feed on dead wood inside tree cavities.

It frequents forest areas and tree groves rich in large, diseased and rotting specimens.

The work that contains the molecule emanating from the osmoderm does not alter the fountain, but discreetly inhabits it, like the insect in the hollow trunk.

Visitors can take in the scent using sticks made of local wood, which they can carry with them. Each stick contains a trace of the forest: a few grams that demonstrate how even wood left alive, right where it grows, can generate value. No longer a commodity to be exported, but a living presence that supports a different idea of economy and landscape.

Stella listened to a profound and fruitful conversation with many people (artisans, nuns, local administrators, and entrepreneurs), including Denise Vangelisti, who today describes her experience as follows: "For my husband Stefano and I, Mariae Nivis 1567 wasn't just a gamble, but a project for a new life, which began with the acquisition of the ancient monastery and the renovations. We wanted to invest in this small village as the beating heart of a creative journey that brings us together as collectors of modern art, as entrepreneurs of beauty, and as supporters of projects to protect our natural environment. The process we've been pursuing for some time with Federparchi to protect several hectares of beech forest on Mount Falterona is tied to both aspects of this family and entrepreneurial project, as we believe that making a profit isn't the only goal of a company ideally positioned for the future.

Andrea Gennai, Director of the National Park, comments: "For many years, the Park has been focusing on previously unthinkable aspects of conservation, such as protecting what was once considered "minor" fauna, including endangered insects such as the Alpine Rosalia and the Hermit Osmoderma. In the early years, this type of conservation was even derided by those, including those in institutions, who considered it a pointless whim to protect things they believed had no direct benefit to humanity. Discovering now that, after science, art has also embraced these "strange strategies" for protecting creation as a whole, and that the population recognizes the value of this artistic endeavor, gives us enormous pleasure, because it means we have succeeded in sharing the values, emotions, and cultural growth that are among the primary objectives of a National Park."

Luca Santini, Mayor of Pratovecchio Stia, concludes: "The municipal administration promptly welcomed and supported the Elpis Foundation's project, which includes our region in a national contemporary art project that annually brings the creativity of 20 artists to 20 small Italian villages. The goal is to highlight small towns like ours, often far from the traditional contemporary art circuits, where large cities almost always take center stage. Bringing art to villages like ours not only enriches our cultural heritage but also offers new opportunities for artists, strengthening the bond between art and community. For us, representing Tuscany in a project of such national importance is a source of profound satisfaction. It is even more so considering that the work was born precisely from the inspiration that our community and our region offered the artist during his residency."