Ettore Spalletti.

A film about secretive and influential painter and sculptor Ettore Spalletti. Born in 1940 in Cappelle sul Tavo, near Pescara, where he lived until his death in 2019, Spalletti talks about his art, the creative act, his passion for painting and sculpture. The film involves those close to him, including his wife Patrizia Leonelli Spalletti, gallery owner Benedetta Spalletti, her niece, her personal assistant Azzurra Ricci, gallery owner Lia Rumma, and curator Germano Celant. A portrait of an artist far removed from the international art mainstream whose works are closely connected with the Abruzzo’s landscape, history and colours, such as the pastures of the Campo Imperatore plateau and the region’s Benedictine abbeys, such as San Clemente in Castiglione di Casauria. Spalletti was fascinated by their simplicity, their welcoming atmosphere. Whether in painting, sculpture or installation, his work reflects the cult of beauty, the Renaissance measure of space and color, spiritual warmth and relationship with the environment. “Art doesn’t need intelligence,” he says, in his studio. “Or even a story. It frees itself of everything to find its own gift.” After the passing of this inspiring master, the film represents a precious testimony of his art and spirit.