Beetles are angels of metamorphosis, guardians-caretakers, symbolizing the ancient religions and in Italian and Flemish painting tradition of vanitas the passage between the earthly dimension and eternal life with their constant movement. At the same time they possess a beautiful shell that dramatically highlights the vulnerability of that "royal" body. And so Jan Fabre, who calls himself, lives and expresses himself as a knight of despair and warrior of beauty, undresses and dresses his weapons deploying in the highest place of Florence his army dressed with shiny and iridescent armor. A legion which is called here to tell the devotion for life, to defend the fragile pure beauty that art is capable of generating, against an invisible enemy that comes from within and without at the same time, getting ready to hit and hurt.
Within the first floor of the building, on this occasion reopened to the public after many years, the route will continue with wax sculptures and film screenings of performance, in continuity and dialogue with external works and the magnificent Florentine landscape.
The spectacular bronze integration in Piazza della Signoria and the works created with beetles shells on display at Palazzo Vecchio will compete with the urban fabric and one of the most visited historic buildings in the city, constituting perfect complement to the visual and conceptual exhibition. Company and motto of the exhibition will giustappunto Spiritual Guards, to be interpreted as incitement to live a heroic life, both belligerent who disarmed in defense of imagination and beauty.