(Linguaglossa, 15 December 1900 – Milan, 13 September 1995). Francesco Messina was born in Linguaglossa in the province of Catania into a very poor family. Read the full biography
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(Linguaglossa, 15 December 1900 – Milan, 13 September 1995). Francesco Messina was born in Linguaglossa in the province of Catania into a very poor family. Raised in Genoa where he studied and lived until the age of thirty-two, he moved from here to Milan. He is considered by critics to be among the greatest figurative sculptors of the twentieth century, together with Giacomo Manzù, Arturo Martini, Marino Marini. He is the author of some of the major monuments of the Italian twentieth century: Santa Caterina da Siena, located on the Tiber embankment of Castel Sant'Angelo (which depicts the singer and actress Maria Sole, used by Messina as a model[1]); the Via Crucis of San Giovanni Rotondo; RAI's Dying Horse; the Monument to Pius XII in St. Peter's Basilica. His works appear in the most prestigious museums in the world: Bern, Zurich, Gothenburg, Oslo, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Venice, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Vienna, Washington, Tokyo. From 1922 he began to regularly exhibit his works at the Venice International Art Biennale and between 1926 and 1929 he participated in the exhibitions of the artistic group Il Novecento Italiano in Milan. In 1932 he moved to Milan, where, after a national competition, in 1934 he obtained the chair of sculpture at the Brera Academy of which he became the director after only two years.
