Letter to Peace
Below is the text of the Letter to Peace, a reflection by Brunello Cucinelli
O beloved Pace, I am drawn to history, which is close to me every day by the things I see and by the things I read; in history I seek answers to the questions as to why in so many long periods of time you have been a prisoner, but I never arrive at convincing reasons. Sometimes someone, my dear Pace, speaks to me of you as an enchanted dream; but you are not a dream, you are not an island that is not there. You are real, possible, authentic and necessary as air. History, the testimonies of those who have seen you weeping silently shut away in hidden places, remain of the utmost help, and historians are our masters, of course, but not even they are as good as artists, poets, painters, novelists, at putting your greatness, beauty and human essence in the truest light; you have been sung about by art as no one has ever done, I believe, until today.
Evenings ago I fantasised, imagining I was in an extraordinary city, full of sunshine and greenery, which could be as ancient as it is modern, as oriental as it is western, a city of people of every skin colour, of children, of old people, of hard-working women and men, who seemed to be dancing and singing in harmony with the weather. And looking closely, in the dream, I realised that in reality they were simply so joyful because they were living in you: in Peace.
I admired the cheerful faces and the harmonious, hard-working movements of so many people; I was enchanted by a serenity that, like a generous light, poured over the faces of those happy citizens.
How many other times have I admired you, O desired Peace, as in the great fourteenth-century fresco by Lorenzetti, in Siena, which speaks of Good Government; in that brilliant painting the men, women, children and animals are no different, in their serene joy, from those in my fantasy; Good Government is, I believe, one of your favourite houses, and you prosper when it reigns. But you also possess another house, equally large and beautiful, which you love very much, and that is the Brotherhood.
