Drawn by Noli Novak
Now, the people of Italy's Abruzzo region are giving their thanks for the support by lending the piece to the Italian American Museum. The sculpture, known as “La Madonna di Pietranico,” was unveiled this week and will be on display at the museum on Mulberry Street until June 2.
The museum collected $110,000 from thousands of donors in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Instead of using the money to fund rescue efforts, the Italian government specifically requested the funds be used to help restore pieces of art that were damaged in the museum in L'Aquila. All of the money collected by the Italian American Museum went to the restoration of “La Madonna di Pietranico.”
“People came in with fives, and 10s and 20s, and we got donations on the Internet from all over the world,” says Joseph V. Scelsa, founder and president of the Italian American Museum. “It was an overwhelming response not only from the New York community but from around the country.”
“La Madonna di Pietranico” is a 15th-century, 4-foot-high, 800-pound statue of a seated woman, with her arms brought close to the chest. The earthquake broke the upper part of the sculpture into 25 pieces and some, like the nose of the statue, were lost forever. A baby Jesus, believed to be a part of the statue, was previously lost.
The nose, a hand and parts of the base of the statue have been completely recreated, giving the sculpture a two-tone, old and new terra-cotta look. The restoration took about a year and improves upon an older restoration that happened in the 1930s. For example, the statue no longer tilts forward but now sits upright and is more stable, according to the restoration team.
The statue was made in the Abruzzo region and “is something they hold very dear to their hearts,” says Dr. Scelsa. “It also is a big piece of their patrimony in terms of their culture and identity. It's not so much a religious symbol, but of the people themselves.”
More work is needed, including finishing the head of the sculpture, but restorer Elisabetta Sonnino says that she wanted “visitors to see what's inside and how the restoration worked.”
The restoration work will continue and when the statue ultimately returns to a church in Italy it will be complete.
