Mapei: a story of commitment and continuity for Milan Duomo

Support for the “Adopt a Statue” project takes a 16th-centry David to the company’s headquarters

Mapei, a leading Italian company in the building sector, has always had the guardianship and enhancement of Milan Duomo at heart. An important path of patronage beginning on 15 May 2018, when the then sole director, Giorgio Squinzi, and his wife, Adriana Spazzoli, went up to the Cathedral’s Rooftops, all the way to the feet of the Madonnina, to bring Mapei’s support for the “Get Your Spire” project. This continued with entrance on the Veneranda Fabbrica’s Advisory Board of Veronica Squinzi, current managing director alongside her brother, Marco.

Over time, Mapei’s attention towards the Cathedral has also translated into a precious technical partnership with the Veneranda Fabbrica, to this day fruitful and culminating in the important task of restoring the Aquilonare (Northern) Sacristy , finished in 2021 and made possible also thanks to the collaboration of Mapei technicians.

Today this commitment is renewed once again thanks to Mapei’s support for the “Adopt a Statue” project, a Veneranda Fabbrica initiative which, also thanks to the collaboration with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan, has as its main objective to recover some sculptural works which, for conservation reasons, can no longer remain in place on the Monument. They are thus offered on temporary loan to companies and individuals, in exchange for a contribution aimed at the restoration of the Cathedral. An innovative way of enhancing and making newly accessible to the public a piece of Milanese history.

The statue chosen by Mapei is “David with the Harp”

Mapei’s support was destined for the restoration of a fascinating sculpture depicting David with the Harp. The work, following cleaning, has arrived at Mapei’s headquarters in Viale Jenner, where it will stay for a year, with the possibility of extension. Thus David greets people as they pass through the atrium of the headquarter’s entrance, just as the innumerable statues of Milan Duomo have always done: silently observing and watching over the many worshippers, citizens and visitors who walk under the shadows of the spires every day.

David was the second kind of Israel during the first half of the 10th century BC and in a famous episode is described as able to relieve the torment of King Saul thanks to the melody of his cithara. The work in subject was made by an unknown Lombard master in the first half of the 16th century and depicts David with a thick beard, holding a harp in his left hand, with a hat, book and sword that can be seen at his feet.