FNM for Milan Duomo: joining the “Adopt a Statue” project

The initiative arose to make some original statues from the Milanese Cathedral newly accessible to the public

“Adopt a Statue” is a project that arose with the intent of giving new life to some of Milan Duomo’s original statues which, due to conservation and safety concerns, have been removed from the Monument and stored in the Veneranda Fabbrica’s Marble Workshop. The initiative, also made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan, is an important contribution to the safeguarding, enhancement and tutelage of the Cathedral’s artistic heritage, which belongs to everyone: citizens, worshippers, tourists, and companies.

FNM, thanks to its participation in this project, wishes to share the beauty of this cultural heritage with the whole community and all citizens by displaying this work at its headquarters in Milano Cadorna, directly visible from the railway station square, available for all those who would like to admire it and immerse themselves in its history.

But who is Saint Abdon?

In Christian iconography, Saint Abdon is a saint of the Catholic Church who lived in the 3rd century and is generally associated with the figure of a second saint, Saint Sennen. Both martyred, their feast day is celebrated on 30 July.

The statue of Saint Abdon adopted by FNM Group is two centuries old: the model was made by the sculptor Luigi Casareggio, while its marble transposition is the work of the sculptor Gerolamo Argenti, who completed the statue in 1810. After World War II, the sculptor Nardo Pajella, revisited the work maintaining the subject but altering its appearance and pose. Thus, between 1951 and 1953, Argenti’s statue of Saint Abdon, which at that time was found on the top of spire AUG19, was moved and put on display in the Duomo Museum, while Pajella’s new version was placed atop the same spire, where it can still be admired today.

Thanks to FNM’s contribution, these two versions of the statue can now communicate with each other from afar: both are visible to the numerous passers-by who cross these two squares in the city, and they can tell one another of the stories and changes to Milan, of which the Duomo is its symbol throughout the world.