I sacri fratelli

The two warriors, armed with spears, are mirror images with their vigorous and athletic bodies modeled in clay. The work is made in polychrome terracotta patinated with bronze glazes, and the “kranos” and dazzling shields are finished with gold leaf. The artist captures the complicity that binds them, made up of mutual protection, however their nature is not identical but complementary. Conceived on the same night but separately from their mother Leda, Pollux, son of Zeus, is immortal, while Castor, son of her husband Tyndareus, is not. However, they are inseparable and engaged in grandiose undertakings, such as the expedition with the Argonauts and the foundation of the city Dioscuria. They are also rescuers of the wounded on the battlefield or at sea, an element from which they seem to emerge; a portion of ocean solidified in a blue parallelepiped, made with plaster, color and resins. Left an orphan of his brother, Pollux will not resist loneliness and will ask Zeus to renounce immortality. It just might be him to whisper in the other’s ear: “I am you” and, “you are me” we could add, opening to reflection on the concepts of individual and collective identity, of identification with others, of common feeling, which are the basis of life experiences. Twin brothers, Castor and Pollux are the heroes chosen by Carlo Zoli, sculptor of myth, to give voice with his plastic art to the theme of the Florence Biennale 2023: “I Am You”.