This young sculptor is turning dead trees into art, becomes Rome’s latest attraction

We are surrounded by some amazing human beings, who inspire us to see and do good every day. One of these amazing humans is Andrea Gandini, a 22-year-old young sculptor, who is doing an awesome job by sculpting new life into Rome’s myriad dead and decapitated trees! This man is busy transforming dead tree trunks by carving human faces on them.

Andrea started this work at the tender age of 19 when other kids of his age party and roam around. In the last four years, he has created 65 such sculptures as a part of his Troncomorto (dead trunk) Project. His social media account is flooded with his gorgeous creations.

As shared by Andrea, he decided to carve faces only because he thinks that the faces help draw empathy and respect from passersby towards the fallen tree. According to him, people respect trees as individuals so he tries imagining a face for each tree, a face that’s right for that particular tree.


Rome’s streets have several diseased trees because nobody took care of them for a long period of 10 years, as per Andrea. This left people with no choice but cutting the sick trees down. It eventually led to a lot of tree stumps that were left on the streets, leading Andrea to his project idea.


However, in this process, Andrea goes through a lot as not everyone appreciates his efforts. Recently, he was stopped by the city police close to the Colosseum, citing a new city law that prohibits people from using city property. The police also threatened him, stating that they’ll ban him from the region for a year if he’s seen again there.


But this did not stop Andrea from doing his job. For him, they are dead trees and no one’s property; also, he believes that it’s his moral right to do it. His tree carvings across the city’s street have become the latest tourist attraction in Rome and people are praising him for his great work.