Operation Orpheus

The photograph, taken with artificial light and a very sensitive film, shows a large egg resting on the bottom of a cave. It captures a moment from Operation Orpheus, a site- specific intervention carried out in 1982 in the cave of Monte Cucco in Umbria. That year the town of Gubbio was struck by a powerful earthquake, which fortunately left Bentivoglio’s earlier work Struttura Simbolica, unscathed; the locals humorously referred to it as Ovo (Egg). As a sign of gratitude to the earth for sparing her sculpture, the artist descended into a cavern accessible only to speleologists, 60 metres below the surface. In a mystical ritual, Bentivoglio compares her descent to that of Orpheus, who ventured into the Underworld to attempt to bring his beloved woman back to life. He leaves behind an egg, a natural symbol of the origin of life.