The Unipark Nonntal is another work of art richer: the immense bronze disc, called “Scudo” by the Italian artist Mimmo Paladino, has landed on our university grounds. Gallery owner Thaddaeus Ropac donated the sculpture to the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS).

“It is a pleasure and a great gift for the University and the City of Salzburg that Scudo per Salisburgo has now been added to the collection of artworks alongside the Georg-Trakl-Allee by Alexander Steinwendtner, the Josef Klaus Monument by Christiane Pott-Schlager), and the monumental steel sculpture 218.5° Arc x 13 by Bernar Venet,” emphasised Rector Hendrik Lehnert at today’s unveiling of the sculpture, which was attended by the artist.

The monumental bronze disc Scudo per Salisburgo was created by Mimmo Paladino in 1996 for the city of Salzburg. It was temporarily on view in Furtwänglerpark in Salzburg’s city centre, and most recently kept in the garden of the Villa Emslieb. Thaddaeus Ropac said that he was very keen to make the artwork, which was created for Salzburg, accessible to the public again. Similar bronze sculptures can be seen in a medieval Dominican monastery in Benevento. The sculptures are intended to draw on historical themes. Scudo, for example, is like a shield that fell from the sky and takes influence from battles in the Second Punic War. The sculpture doubles as a fountain, and the water is collected in an antique-looking container, which creates a connection between new and old.

Mimmo Paladino, who comes from the Italian province of Benevento, is a contemporary Italian artist at the forefront of the Italian Transavantgarde. His work has been shown at numerous international exhibitions since the mid-1970s. Paladino is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London and his works can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts and the Museum of Modern Arts in New York, among others. He now lives and works in Milan and Benevento.

Photo (f.l.t.r.): Deputy Mayor Bernhard Auinger, Deputy Mayor Barbara Unterkofler, Mayor Harald Preuner, gallery owner Thaddaeus Ropac, the artist Mimmo Paladino, Rector Hendrik Lehnert, President of the Provincial Parliament Brigitta Pallauf, Mag. Ingrid Tröger-Gordon and Governor Wilfried Haslauer.