L’urgenza del dialogo tra antico e moderno. Storia della Discesa dello Spirito Santo di Francesco Somaini per Bergamo

In 1972, Francesco Somaini inaugurated the large sculpture Discesa dello Spirito Santo, created for the unfinished facade of the Church of Santo Spirito in Bergamo. The work was commissioned by the architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni and the Diocese of Bergamo. For the design and execution of the piece, the sculptor faced the challenge of addressing the relationship between modern sculpture and ancient architecture, and how they could coexist and interact within a unified and organic vision. Starting from a thorough archival investigation, which had never been fully conducted before, the essay aims to reconstruct the history of the commission of the work and the various stages that accompanied its development, while also finding connections between Somaini’s intellectual and programmatic activities. In particular, it demonstrates how useful it is to read the text Urgenza nella città, which the artist wrote together with Enrico Crispolti and published in 1972, for a full understanding of the thinking that underpins the creation of the high relief.