“Fiorente“ self-exploded: "No, the temperature range"

The first hypothesis that citizens, residents, and owners of productive activities in the area thought of was that of vandalism, imagining that the sculpture had been hit with a hammer or defaced with a similar object. Yesterday morning, many found themselves with the work crumbled in Piazza Garibaldi, in the heart of the historic center of Altopascio. It was easy to conceive this thought, given how little respect there is around for what is public.

Instead, no act of vandalism. As often happens, reality surpasses fantasy. It happened that the marble disintegrated, by itself. The reason? According to experts, this phenomenon was generated by the temperature range between nighttime temperatures, which are sometimes quite low, and daytime temperatures, which are already at torrid levels especially in the central hours of the day. "It seems hard to believe but there are videos from video surveillance cameras that have been examined and observed precisely to understand if there were any responsibilities of people - explains councilor Adamo La Vigna - and instead no. You can really see that there is some sort of breakage due to natural causes. The human element has nothing to do with it".

The sculpture that was placed in Piazza Garibaldi, in the heart of the historic center of Altopascio. The work is from 2021, it is titled "Fiorente", it represents a flower, made of white Carrara marble and black marble called "Marquina" (very precious), by Jon Isherwood, president and founding member of the Digital Stone project. The artist is very well known, having exhibited in many public museums in the United States, Canada, Europe and China. His creations are found on Broadway, but also in Massachusetts and in various parts of the globe. For example in Tuscany currently in Villa Strozzi in Florence and in the cathedral of Barga. As well as in private collections.

The sculpture was partly crumbled. The pieces are still on the pavement, near the Medici Loggia. It was on a wooden platform and on its base. Marble gives the impression of a strong, heavy material. However, having a crystalline structure, it can be subject to deformation when it undergoes temperature variations. Massimo Stefanini