🎨 Usil – Descriptions for Everyone
Usil is a site-specific installation created in 2019 by contemporary Italian artist Agapito Miniucchi, exhibited at the Aurelio De Felice – CAOS Museum in Terni. The work takes its title and inspiration from the Etruscan sun-deity Usil, reinterpreting ancient myth through modern materials and form. Composed primarily of carved and assembled wood panels—measuring 166 cm high, 50 cm wide, and 75 cm deep—the installation combines sculptural relief with painted surfaces to evoke the sun’s radiance and the mythic aura of its divine bearer.
Miniucchi’s Usil fuses minimalist geometry with rich symbolic motifs: stylized rays, angular wings, and circular apertures recall both archaic depictions of the god and solar iconography across cultures. The warm, honeyed tones of the wood are enhanced by subtle washes of gold and ochre paint, producing a luminescent effect under gallery lighting. In commissioning the piece, the Comune di Terni sought to bridge local heritage with contemporary art—Miniucchi’s installation thus stands as a dialog between past and present, ritual and display.
Step into the CAOS Museum’s gallery and you’ll be met by Usil, a soaring wooden structure that channels the power of the Etruscan sun-god. At eye level, the central figure—an abstracted, winged silhouette—appears to emerge from the plane of the wall, its carved contours catching light and shadow with every degree of your turn.
Reach out and brush your fingertips over the smooth, sanded panels. You’ll feel the gentle undulations where the rays extend—each a precise bevel that radiates outward like a compass rose. The warm wood grain underpins a wash of translucent gold: not an opaque veneer, but a whisper of pigment that glimmers as you pass.
Step back a pace. The installation fills your peripheral vision, its verticality (166 cm tall) dominating the space without overwhelming it. The broader wingspan (50 cm each side) and the 75 cm projection create a subtle relief, so that from certain angles you see only the silhouette; from others, the full depth of layered panels and interlocking shapes.
In sixty seconds, you’ve sensed the dialogue between ancient myth and modern craft: the Etruscan deity reborn in a language of clean lines and natural materials. You’ve felt the tactile warmth of wood, observed the play of light on carved geometry, and experienced how Miniucchi’s minimal palette can evoke the sun’s brilliance without a single electric bulb.
Mythic Origins and Concept
The figure of Usil occupies a central place in the Etruscan pantheon as the personification of the sun—akin to the Greek Helios and the Roman Sol. In the fragmented texts of Etruscan religion, Usil is depicted both rising from the sea at dawn and riding a chariot across the sky. Agapito Miniucchi’s installation does not attempt a literal re-creation; rather, it abstracts the deity into elemental forms—rays, wings, circular apertures—that speak of illumination, passage, and cyclical renewal.
Commissioned by the Comune di Terni for its CAOS Museum collection, Miniucchi was challenged to produce a work that would resonate with local history—Terni lies on the ancient border of Etruria—and yet speak to universal themes of light and transformation. His choice of wood as primary medium alludes to both the organic (the living world bathed in sunlight) and the artisanal traditions of Umbrian craftsmen.
Materials and Fabrication
Format: Carved and painted wood panels (legno)
Dimensions: H 166 cm × W 50 cm × D 75 cm
Miniucchi selects sustainably sourced poplar and birch plywood—materials prized for their fine grain and stability. Each panel is cut with CNC precision, then hand-filed to soften edges and transitions. The layered construction consists of a backing plane anchored to the wall, over which successive relief panels are applied, creating the 75 cm projection in staggered steps.
Surface treatment involves a two-stage process: first, a sealant to protect the wood; then a series of thin washes of acrylic mixed with metallic gold and ochre pigments. These washes allow the wood’s natural striations to show through, generating subtle iridescence under changing gallery lights. Finally, a matte varnish unifies the finish and guards against UV fading.
Iconography and Visual Language
The installation’s central silhouette is crowned with a halo of triangular rays—twelve in number, echoing solar cycles and months of the year. Below the halo, a pair of stylized wings spread laterally, each wing panel carved with geometric line patterns that reference both Etruscan textile motifs and contemporary abstraction.
Circular cut-outs—ranging from 5 to 15 cm in diameter—are strategically placed to align with gallery spotlights, transforming overhead lighting into “sunbeams” that pierce the wood and cast dappled patterns onto the surrounding walls. In this way, the viewer becomes part of the work, moving through shafts of refracted light.
Spatial Experience and Installation
Installed at eye level, the piece’s base sits 50 cm off the floor, encouraging viewers to look up—an intentional gesture that mimics gazing toward the sky at sunrise. The 166 cm height approximates a human figure, further anthropomorphizing the abstract form. At 75 cm depth, the work intrudes comfortably into the gallery space without obstructing circulation.
Miniucchi worked closely with CAOS’s curatorial team to calibrate lighting angles and sight lines. Through mock-ups and on-site tests, he determined the ideal positioning of each circular aperture so that midday gallery light would align with the piece’s geometry, reinforcing its solar narrative.
Cultural Significance and Reception
Since its unveiling in 2019, Usil has become a focal point for discussions of contemporary archaeological dialogue—how modern art can reinterpret ancient symbols without resorting to pastiche. Critics have praised Miniucchi’s restraint: by stripping Usil’s iconography to its barest essentials, he creates a work that is at once immediately legible and continually open to interpretation.
Visitors often pause beneath the piece to experience the play of light and shadow, likening the effect to standing in a grove of sun-dappled trees. Educational programs at CAOS have incorporated the installation into workshops on geometry in art, solar symbolism, and sustainable craft.
Conservation and Care
Conservation: Buono
Keeper: Comune di Terni (Aurelio De Felice – CAOS Museum)
Wood-based installations require stable environmental conditions: CAOS maintains gallery temperatures between 18–22 °C and relative humidity at 45–55 % to prevent warping or splitting. The layered construction allows for disassembly: each relief panel is keyed into slots on the backing plane and can be removed for individual inspection.
Legacy and Ongoing Dialogue
Miniucchi’s Usil continues to inspire reinterpretations of Etruscan myth in contemporary media—from digital animations to public murals. It stands as a model for how museums can commission new works that both honor regional heritage and expand the boundaries of exhibition practice.
✨ Encountered Agapito Miniucchi’s Usil at CAOS Museum? Show your perspective with #UsilAtCAOS! Whether you captured the halo of rays or the sunlit shadows through its apertures, we want to see how you experienced this modern take on an Etruscan god.
🔎 Quick facts:
- Artist: Agapito Miniucchi
- Year: 2019
- Medium: Carved & painted wood (legno)
- Dimensions: H 166 cm × W 50 cm × D 75 cm
- Location: Aurelio De Felice – CAOS Museum, Terni
📸 Photo tips:
- Frame the piece from below to emphasize its soaring height.
- Capture the beams of light passing through the circular cut-outs.
- Include contextual shots with museum architecture or viewers for scale.
🗣️ Tag your creations with #ContemporaryEtruria, #MiniucchiArt, and @CAOS_Museum for a chance to be featured in our social feed!
| Predicate (Natural Language) | Object (Natural Language) |
|---|---|
| Subject | Usil |
| Title | Usil |
| Description | A painting by Agapito Miniucchi, thematically connected to the Etruscan deity Usil |
| Time-span | 2019 |
| Format | Legno |
| Source | Museo de Felice Entry |
| Height | 166 cm |
| Width | 50 cm |
| Thickness | 75 cm |
| Conservation | Buono |
| Keeper | Comune di Terni |