Arturo Di Modica's Fighting Horses Installed in Catania's Piazza Università
In Catania's piazza Università, located on via Etnea between Palazzo dell'Università and Palazzo San Giuliano, two bronze horses by Arturo Di Modica stand facing each other. These Fighting Horses, measuring eight meters in height and 14 meters in width, were created in 2019 and engage with their front hooves and muzzles interlocked diagonally. Di Modica, who was born in Vittoria in 1941, relocated to New York in the 1970s, where he infamously installed the 3.2-tonne Charging Bull outside the Stock Exchange in 1989. Additionally, Catania pays tribute to Francesco Messina, a native of Linguaglossa born in 1900. The Fighting Horses serve as a prototype for the unrealized Wild Horses. Mayor Enrico Trantino and Di Modica's wife, Stefania Drago, introduced the model to Catania, envisioning it as a potential new city symbol.
Fatti principali
- Arturo Di Modica's Fighting Horses, two bronze rearing horses from 2019, are installed in Catania's piazza Università on via Etnea
- The sculpture measures eight metres in height and 14 metres in width
- Di Modica was born in Vittoria in 1941 and left home before turning twenty on a train to Florence
- In 1989 he illegally placed a 3.2-tonne bronze bull outside the New York Stock Exchange; it was moved days later to Bowling Green
- Henry Moore, whom Di Modica met in Pietrasanta, called him "the young Michelangelo"
- Leonardo da Vinci's clay model for the Francesco Sforza monument, over seven metres tall, was destroyed in 1499 when the French reached Milan
- Pietro Tacca, advised by Galileo Galilei, made the Philip IV horse in Madrid stand on its hind legs and tail
- The Fighting Horses are the prototype for the unrealised Wild Horses, two 40-metre horses planned for the banks of the Ippari near Vittoria
- Mayor Enrico Trantino and the artist's wife Stefania Drago brought the model to Catania
Entità
Artisti
- Arturo Di Modica
- Henry Moore
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Pietro Tacca
- Galileo Galilei
- Francesco Messina
- Francesco Sforza
- Philip IV
Istituzioni
- New York Stock Exchange
- Rai
- Palazzo dell'Università
- Palazzo San Giuliano
- exibart.com
Luoghi
- Catania
- Italy
- Sicily
- Vittoria
- Florence
- New York
- United States
- Bowling Green
- Pietrasanta
- Milan
- Madrid
- Spain
- Linguaglossa
- Etna
- viale Mazzini
- piazza Università
- via Etnea
- piazza Duomo
- Ippari
Fonti
- Exibart —