Revised statue of Pope John Paul II unveiled in Rome

This combined picture shows Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi's statue of Pope John Paul II before its restoration, (left, on May 20, 2011), and at its inauguration after the restoration, in Rome, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. / AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

ROME The city of Rome unveiled a revamped statue of Pope John Paul II on Monday after the first one was pilloried by the public and the Vatican.

Artist Oliviero Rainaldi said he was pleased with the final product, saying it matched his original vision. He blamed workers for a botched assemblage the first time around.

When the larger-than-life statue was first unveiled in May 2011, it was widely criticized by passers-by as looking more like Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini than the beloved Polish pope. The Vatican's own art critic wrote that it looked like a "bomb" had landed.

That few could recognize it as honoring John Paul was a "sin," critic Sandro Barbagallo declared.

Rome's mayor quickly assembled a committee of art experts, culture officials and scholars to work with Rainaldi to make the sculpture match what had been approved in his sketches.

Rainaldi said the work involved "small corrections" to the "errors" made during the initial assembly.

This combined picture shows Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi's statue of Pope John Paul II before its restoration (left, on Sept. 23, 2011), and at its inauguration after the restoration, in Rome, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Rainaldi, who blamed foundry workers for a botched assemblage the first time around, says he's pleased with the final product, saying it matches his original vision.

/ AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

The revisions unveiled Monday focus on the pope's face: he smiles now and has a neck and more defined chin rather than a stern expression on a bowling-ball-shaped head. His outstretched arm — with his cloak opened in a gesture of welcoming and protection — is straightened out.

The bronze's greenish hue is also evened out, the dark brown stains that marked the head and cloak mostly removed. And the statue now has its own enclosed pedestal rather than the patch of grass and bush that surrounded it previously.

Umberto Broccoli, Rome's superintendent of cultural heritage, said it was only natural that the work would elicit a range of opinions, saying Italy is a country of 50 million soccer referees, 50 million art critics and 50 million politicians.

"With contemporary art, you have to wait for years to pass before judging it," he told reporters at the site, located in front of Rome's main train station.

Still, passers-by on Monday were not shy about offering their opinions on the statue's (second) inauguration day.

"It's much better than before," said Marco Felici, a 53-year-old road worker who watched the unveiling ceremony with the rest of his neon orange-clad road crew. "The face is better and the neck. They did a good job this time."

Commuter Alberto Donella, however, wasn't convinced.

"It's not him. It's not him," he said as he walked by the statue. "He was joyful. He was nothing like this here. For me it still looks like a refrigerator."

[namealreadyinuse]

He still looks like Uncle Fester... What's wrong with the freaking "modern art"? Can't it be pleasing to look at?

[rwsmith29456]

Better, but still no cigar. He now has a head like Charlie Brown but at least he doesn't look like the statue specter in 'Don Giovanni'. They say contemporary art has to be judged over time but it's just plain lousy sculpture. Didn't the guy even oversee the installation? Just left it to workers to put together? It doesn't look like they had that much to work with.

[flexsf]

It is ugly and looks like Eadwine the Scribe.

[GhostF1ghter]

The original head is actually more evocative of him. The revised head is too large in proportion to the facial features. I realize it's art, but it is not abstract enough to support the incorrect proportions.

[inbethlehem]

Sorry, but the statue is still hideous.

[1notrub11]

"Artist Oliviero Rainaldi said he was pleased with the final product, saying it matched his original vision. He blamed workers for a botched assemblage the first time around."

"Rainaldi said the work involved "small corrections" to the "errors" made during the initial assembly."

You're kidding, right? Where was he during the "assembly"? "Small" corrections?

Regardless of what you think about the art, the man failed to insure that "his" work was properly created. I certainly hope he footed the bill for the recreation of his work.

[matt6052]

The minimalist style of the first one harkens to fascist art too. Got a head like Duce on a sculpture like 30s Italy.

[servorum]

While this statue is far from the classical religious art of Renaissance artists like Bernini and Michelangelo, I have always suspected that even in his time Bernini's design for the columns of the baldacchino that towers over the main altar in St. Peter's Basilica might have been called strange and unusual.
Artists must be allowed freedom of interpretation, for without that freedom their work ceases to be art and instead is reduced to technique alone.
That being said, the restoration of this statue goes a long way toward improving the vision this artist wanted to create in the first place.
We should be grateful he was willing to do it.

[skeezix06]

Most of us have enough IQ to realize that art, like language, although simpler went through periods when it was much more ornate in the past. The earlier version was much more simplistic and easier on the eye. The revised statue looks like a cartoon. I would consider it embarrassing and I suspect that the artist was simply trying to keep from losing his income when he recanted the earlier version and said he likes the current version. Everything considered, this does not make the Vatican look good at all.

[servorum]

I don't think it reflects on the Vatican so much as it reflects the nature of modern art and the vision of modern artists. Artists are not building contractors. When you hire an artist you don't give him a blueprint, just a general idea that he then has to flesh out, so to speak.
I'm not saying this statue is pleasing to my eye, because it is not, only that it is certainly not my place to tell an artist how to envision his work.

[inketolstoy]

I don't think Michaelangelo will feel threatened.

[skeezix06]

I liked the earlier statue. The revised version looks like a cartoon figure.