LAURA FERRETTI IN LA PAZ Critical presentation by  Y. E. Maurizio ZANINI (Ambassador of Italy) It is for me a pleasure and honor to introduce the catalog of pictures by Laura Ferretti, concerning the exhibit that will be on display in La Paz, Bolivia, at the end of April 2006. Why have I chosen Laura and the art about the Etruscan civilization? As regards the first question, I guess I may say that the works of naturalist character by the Tuscan painter reflect in depth the truest and beautiful soul of this region. Not only the extraordinary wideness of her landscapes, the light that radiates on her fields and hills, the gilded color in the summers and the emerald green in her springs and autumns. But the painting by Ferretti succeeds in gathering too that union between nature and man that -as also recognized by the same UNESCO- is one of the salient traits of the Tuscan history. To be more precise as the man during the centuries has transformed, modified and for good part even created the panorama in which he lives and this with a very particular artistic sense, almost to reverse the relationship and to turn some pictures into panorama. The part concerning the Etruscans, prominent in the exhibit, draws its reason from a double origin. On one hand it is to show with pride to such a geographically distant Country as Bolivia, the national and regional millennial, artistic and cultural wealth. On the other hand, going back to the historical roots of our two peoples, it is to gather the similarities between Etruscans and Inca and Preincaic races. The sense of the mysticism, the mysterious devotion to rites and religious practices, the sense of the life after death, a particular attitude towards the time and the space approach, beyond the thousands of kilometers, these two great civilizations in a human and ideal society. Laura Ferretti gets well these aspects and represents them with strong feeling and great artistic skill. I am sure this exhibit will have in Bolivia the success that it well deserves.

Tuscan hills: Spring