This photo of "AMOR" ("love" in Latin) on Marcello Piacentini's INPS (national Italian pension fund) 1929-1931 building in Piazza Missori was snapped in honor of a very special person, in order to be posted for you on Monday, September 6, 2010, but that day will be quite busy, so I'm posting it one day in advance.
Piacentini, one of the dominant architects and urban planners of the 1930s and 1940s in Italy, often balances the severe undecorated rationalism of the day with stream-lined decorations and a nod and a wink towards traditional architecture, thereby adding--in my opinion--heart. For this, I think his works would be interesting to post-modern architects, too.
If you know who did this sculpture--I'm guessing following a design, generic or specific, by Piacentini--please add the information (with a brief bibliography) in this post's comment box. Thanks!
[On Monday, September 6, the softer light of the overcast day allowed me to see the artist's signature in a stick-like version of Roman capitals sculpted in the empty space at the lower left of the design: Antonio Maraini. The epigraphy is similar to that of the Piacentini's "signature" similarly semi-hidden on a plain panel flanking the main entrance. Both examples of epigraphy deserve closer study.]
To see the needlepoint diagram created out of this photo, see: http://arsacupicturaestellae.blogspot.com/2010/09/amor-milan-monday-05.html
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