Neapolitan sculptor Luigi Mazzella dies at 86 from COVID-19

Luigi Mazzella, a Neapolitan sculptor and painter, died at 86 from COVID-19 at Cotugno Hospital in Naples. A student of Ennio Tomai, he worked at his studio in Villa Haas on the Vomero hill. His family announced the studio will become the Luigi Mazzella Foundation, a center for young artists, housed in the 18th-century villa once owned by Cardinal Ruffo. Born in Naples in 1936, Mazzella studied at the Istituto d'Arte and later taught at the Istituto d'Arte Palizzi. His metal sculptures blended spirituality, tradition, and contemporary avant-garde languages. Critic Palma Bucarelli praised his technical mastery and love for materials like bronze, iron, silver, lead, wood, marble, and stone. Giulio Carlo Argan noted his advanced artistic culture and lamented the near-lost art of embossing lead sheets. In 2016, with the patronage of the City of Naples, Mazzella installed a permanent bronze monument in Piazza Ferdinando Fuga in honor of Ennio Tomai.