PISA, Italy – A sculpture on display at U.S. Army Garrison Italy’s Camp Darby headquarters depicts two white stone pillars, the well-known outline of New York City’s Twin Towers.
Created in 2002 by artist Marta Gierut and sculptor Beatrice Fineschi, the work is titled “11 Settembre 2001, Omaggio agli Eroi,” which means “September 11, 2001, Homage to the Heroes.” It is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks. It is a model for a large-scale monument now in Marina di Pietrasanta’s Piazza America.
Lodovico Gierut, a local writer, donated the sculpture to the garrison to honor his daughter, Marta Gierut, who died in 2005. According to Lodovico Gierut, his daughter felt a special bond with the United States, as her birthday fell on the day of the attacks.
The artwork was unveiled during an official ceremony hosted by Robert Chartier, U.S. Army Garrison Italy’s deputy garrison manager at Camp Darby. Ludovico Gierut and Marilena Cheli Tomei, archive committee deputy, attended the event.
“The events that occurred on 9/11 brought a renewed sense of patriotism to our citizens and also created a bond with other nations,” Chartier said. “This model and the monument in Marina di Pietrasanta exemplify those solidified friendships.”
The three-dimensional sketch is rendered from Apuan Alps marble from the Tuscany region and is approximately 12 inches high. Fineschi sculpted the marble, while Gierut created the imagery. A paper draft of her sketches is also on display.
Gierut is a well-known artist and a poet. She was inspired by artists such as Majakovskij, Van Gogh, Hesse, Giovanni Paolo II and Piero Bigongiari, whom she honored with a sculptural portrait in 1995. Her work is now featured in many Italian museums. In 2014, one of her sculptures was gifted to renowned singer Andrea Bocelli at the Association for Neurological Research (ARNo) “Art for Research” event.
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