Mimmo Paladino Sculpture Marks Catholic University of Milan Centenary

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan has unveiled a bronze sculpture by Mimmo Paladino dedicated to Saint Ambrose, commissioned in 2020 by rector Franco Anelli to celebrate the university's centenary (2021). The nearly four-meter-tall work, titled 'Sant'Ambrogio,' depicts a knight beside his horse passing through a portal adorned with symbols including a branch, book, sphere, helmet, and dove. Currently installed in the Cortile d'Onore, the sculpture will eventually move to the Sala Armi of Caserma Garibaldi, the university's future expansion site in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio. The renovation project, led by Beretta Associati with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, will add over 130 new classrooms to accommodate rising enrollment. The sculpture is designed to harmonize with Giovanni Muzio's modernist architecture (1920s-1940s), Bramante's cloisters, and the adjacent early Christian basilica.