So you know that UGLY statue of John Paul II they have outside Rome’s main train termnal?
You know, the one that looks like this . . . ?
I’ve blogged before about the UGLY John Paul II statue outside Rome’s main train terminal.
Now Catholic New Agency is reporting that an effort is underway to fix it:
“I made a design for the sculpture that wasn’t executed well in the foundry,” explained the creator of the artwork, Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi.
“It is not that we have come up with a new statue,” he told CNA on Jan. 10. “We’re correcting those details that weren’t executed well” so that “it will be more faithful to my original idea.”
The redesign will involve replacing the head, modifying the Pope’s cape and touching up the outer coating of paint, since the bronze has oxidized to a light shade of green. The statue will also be raised 15 inches on a new platform, and its lighting will be improved.
. . .
Rainaldi told CNA in a June 2011 interview that his avant garde design is intended to manifest the inner-life of Pope John Paul II, instead of presenting a life-like photographic image.
“The man within was more interesting to me than the man outside,” he said, describing a man who was “lacerated” inside “not only by his infirmity but also by his mission,” the sculptor said. Rainaldi added, “this man showed he was beautiful for others reasons beyond his appearance.”
Color me skeptical, but it doesn’t sound to me like Rainaldi “gets it.”
If you want to make a John Paul II memorial homeless person shelter then make a homeless person shelter and slap a sign on it. Don’t make something that positively invites an internet caption contest.
Speaking of which . . . how would you caption this monstrosity?
