A woman with a sweet face, her hands on her heart who walks, almost floating, with a book at her feet. A wooden work, essential, “Mother of Wisdom”, the title, inaugurated on the afternoon of Tuesday 29 November at the Chapel of the Campus of Santa Monica, the Cremona branch of the Catholic University. A statue which, despite its simple appearance, speaks of a union between spirituality, beauty and culture. A statue that Bishop Antonio Napolioni blessed in the presence of the author Sergio Lotta, the director of the Cremona and Piacenza office, Angelo Manfredini, the campus pastoral assistant, Don Maurizio Compiani, the client Virgilio Compiani and an audience made up of art lovers and teachers.
Before the blessing in the chapel, the presentation of the work took place in the great hall of the Campus, where the student Annalisa Abellonio with a degree in Food Processing moderated. The remote intervention from Milan by Mons Claudio Giuliodori, assistant general of the Catholic University, opened the afternoon by recalling how the work is in fact “a prophetic sign” capable of “illuminating the path of the University, a place rich in wisdom ancient”.
A place, as Abellonius pointed out, where a reference to the Virgin was still missing. And precisely to fill this void, for some time a work had been thought of which later turned out to be the result of a reflection in many voices and which took shape thanks to the commitment not only of the sculptor Sergio Lotta (doctor by profession but passionate about cabinet-making and son of art) but naturally of the client Virginio Compiani and a series of people (including the sculptor’s nephew) who inspired the complexity of the symbolism despite the simplicity of its appearance.
The work, measuring 156 cm, is composed of the figure of the Virgin, with a sweet, smiling face and an intense gaze, with her hands crossed over her heart, and an open book at her feet. It is placed next to the altar, on the side of the ambo, and is suspended thanks to an almost invisible support.
Don Compiani explained its genesis, the result of passionate discussions, but above all the biblical references that dissect its depth of meaning (a booklet has been published by the same university to deepen the subject). The title is “Mother of Wisdom” (not “of Wisdom”) to indicate a “pedagogical cut: Mary, Mother of the Son – explains Compiani – Wisdom of God, teaches all her children the way of wisdom, explaining to them in what it consists, what goods it procures and the way to obtain it”.
Despite the essential nature of the statue, no detail is left to chance. One foot is ahead of the other because wisdom, a meeting of knowledge and mystery, is on its way towards the Truth. “The intellect – Compiani explained on the basis of Gregory of Nyssa – goes on with the wings of love”. The vertical momentum refers to the “wisdom that elevates towards higher horizons of infinity and eternity” preserving within itself the signs of a human path marked by pain (the knots of the wood). And then there is the book, symbol of the living Word, a space in which everyone will write his story but also an image of the research that is cultivated in the university.
The work follows the steps of the Book of Wisdom and invites us to meditate on this theme which must be tackled with the awareness that “faith – explained Don Compiani – does not humiliate intelligence but opens up new perspectives, elevates it beyond the limits of certainty”.
The result of thought and passionate hands, the statue of the Virgin is “an unexpected, moving and edifying work” even for the author himself, Lotta. And today it is an invitation to everyone, first and foremost the university community, to “trust and surrender to the Wisdom of the Mother of God” as Bishop Napolioni said during the blessing.
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A “Mary of Wisdom” for the Santa Monica campus – Cremonaoggi