Monumento a Virgilio

Floriano Bodini's Monument to Virgil in Brindisi translates the poet's literary memory into a modern sculptural composition. Carrara marble forms a column, a draped element and a winged figure, accompanied by symbols associated with Virgil's poetry.

Why it matters

Virgil died at Brindisi in 19 BC. The monument gives that ancient connection a twentieth-century artistic expression, joining the city's classical associations with Bodini's language of figurative sculpture.

What to notice

The armless winged Victory stands above the column and its descending drapery. A helmet, horse, sheep and olive branch evoke contrasting worlds of warfare and rural peace. Their arrangement creates a group of related symbols rather than a conventional portrait statue of the poet.

Context and history

The commission developed around the commemoration of the two-thousandth anniversary of Virgil's death. Ordered in 1981 and placed in 1988, the work forms part of Brindisi's modern public sculpture. Its dedication recalls the author of the Aeneid without attempting to reconstruct the uncertain details of the house in which he died.