From bel paesaggio to the green plain of Pistoia The visual construction of landscape as 'dispositif of power in the Tuscanny territory

The construction of the concept of landscape has played a fundamental role in the connection between landscape representation and territorial exploitation. This article analyzes this relationship through the case study of nursery production in Pistoia, an Italian locality that has become a reference point for 'green' landscaping, where a discourse of environmental sustainability contrasts with data revealing high levels of pollution and ecosystem degradation associated with the nurseries. Based on the analysis of this situation, the article approaches the formation and evolution of the concept of landscape in Tuscany from a historical perspective, viewing it as a 'dispositif of power' in relation to dynamics of commodification and territorial appropriation. To this end, it chronologically addresses the stages of bel paesaggio, cabrei, the Italianate landscape, the Accademia dei Georgofili, and the iconic Tuscan Landscape. Through five images interpreted as material witnesses and symbolic representations of the idea of landscape at each of these five historical moments, the relationship between aestheticization and territorial exploitation is observed, which remains operational in the case of Pistoia's nurseries. The study reveals that landscape representation maintains a shared tactical function over time that has supported a paradigm shift towards land capitalization. However, this political function often goes unnoticed when landscape is culturally assumed to be an 'object' to contemplate, devoid of agency. The fabrication of what is green, which enables the construction of landscape, has become an enterprise in itself. Furthermore, in the specific case studied regarding Pistoia's nurseries, the image that serves as a pretext for territorial exploitation is also a result of that very exploitation.