La palla di Pomodoro

Palla di Arnaldo Pomodoro in Pesaro

Have you ever been to Pesaro? Pesaro is an interesting town, with a population of around 90,000; the second-largest town, after Ancona in Le Marche region, on the eastern side of central Italy. The town is at the northern end of the region, near the riviera romagnola, where are the most famous city of Rimini and Riccione. 


Like most Italian seaside resorts, the original settlement, dating to the Roman era, is a short distance inland, and so the centro storico is separated from the Mediterranean. But if you go in Pesaro and you give someone an appointment, the best place to meet is "La Palla di Pomodo". Everyone knows this place!!     The bronze sculpture at the end of the main street on the edge of the Adriatic Sea has become a common fixed point for anybody permanently or temporarily passing through the city.

The dramatic "Grande Sfera" or Big Sphere– in a polyester incarnation – first made its appearance at the Montreal Expo in 1967, but in 1971 the artist Arnaldo Pomodoro donated it to Pesaro, where he previously worked in the mid-1950s. When you look at the orange glowing globe in the evening, when it reflects the last rays from the setting sun, you have the impression to see a new world order, where the planet are molded in metal.

A similar example of Pesaro is in Rome.

"Sfera con Sfera" by Arnaldo Pomodoro at the Vatican Museum

The "Sfera con Sfera" is the centerpiece of the Courtyard of the Pinecone at the Vatican Museums.  This bronze sculpture is called Sphere Within Sphere and it measures four meters in diameter.  It was created by artist Arnaldo Pomodoro in 1990 for the Vatican Museums.  Pomodoro's specialty is the casting of gigantic columns and/or globes.  In this magnificent sculpture, the fractured surface of the outer sphere reveals a very complex inner sphere that represents the harsh difficulties that the modern world finds itself in at the end of the second millennium.  

A wonderful achievement for this artist!


Other works from this artist are even in Brisbane, donated for the 1982 International Expo!