PRESS RELEASE (2/23/2016)
It was entrusted to the students of the Giordano Bruno High School in Albenga The making of the statue of St. Sebastian, the laying of which at Loano on the bridge of the same name will mark the conclusion of the restoration and conservation work on the monument.
The project is an example of a school-territory partnership, involving some students from the art address in a school-to-work alternation test, according to the directions of the recent Good School Law.
Collaboration with the high school ingauno, promoted by the Mayor of Loano Luigi Pignocca and by the school head teacher prof. Simonetta Barile, was launched at the beginning of the school year, combining the synergies and skills of students from two directions: the arts and the classics.
The project, coordinated by the prof. Pietro Marchese, involves the students of Artistic, class 4A, in the stages of making the statue: from planning, through studies and preparatory drawings, to making the work with plasticine, to the final cast.
In researching the meaning of the work's details, students from the Classical, 3A C, coordinated by the Prof. Luciana Levi. Significant notes on symbology emerged from the pupils' studies: the palm as a symbol of the martyred saints, the arrows as an instrument of martyrdom, and the breastplate as a visualization of St. Sebastian's role as a soldier in the Roman army.
The statue, which will be delivered on the occasion of the inauguration and opening of the monumental bridge to pedestrian circulation, will be re-proposed in anatomy, figure proportions, and facial expression similar to the iconography of the work that was destroyed in the collapse of the shrine.
While in Albenga High School the young people will complete the statue, at Loano the bridge restoration and rehabilitation work will be completed. In fact, Enel Distribuzione SPA is in the process of removing the present conduits, and weather conditions permitting, the work will be completed by the first ten days of April.
The work was significantly delayed because during the course of execution, the presence of first a gas main crossing, then Telecom telephone and fiber optic cables, and finally medium- and low-voltage electrical cables were found.
Since this is a protected property, the City Administration has mandated the removal of the sub-services.
To date, the construction of the niche is underway, respecting the original shapes and dimensions, which will house the new statue of St. Sebastian. The restoration and preservation project was developed with a view to preserving the structure's own identity, rebuilding the shrine of the saint as it was before the collapse.
This will be followed by restoration work on the old pavement with the construction of side walkways and parapets. The work is being carried out by the company Formento Restorations of Finale Ligure, a company that boasts the restoration of important monuments in Liguria.
The Bridge of San Sebastiano, a symbol of the county of the Doria princes, is also called “du niciu” (bridge of the niche). It was built in 1691 to allow the passage of the stream from the back of Palazzo Doria joining the walled Borgo to Borgo Castello. The niche dedicated to the saint is located in the center of the bridge on the upstream parapet. The statue of St. Sebastian, made of Finale snail stone, dates back to the 1930s and was donated in 1934 by Mrs. Luce Borsarelli, wife of the then podestà to replace the previous one that was lost.
