The middle finger is shown in front of the Milan Stock Exchange
From our editorial team
Milan is fashion, Milan is money - but right here, on the Piazza degli Affari, in front of the Milan Stock Exchange, the city shows its anarchic heart.
It looks like a monumental foreign body in the austere world of finance: eleven metres of white Carrara marble as a hand, including a plinth, frontally aligned and massive like a relic from antiquity. But the gesture is anything but classical. An outstretched middle finger that stands directly in front of Palazzo Mezzanotte.
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Officially, it's about L.O.V.E.
Officially, the sculpture is called L.O.V.E. - Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità - freedom, hatred, revenge, eternity. But in Milan people usually just say dryly: „Il Dito“. The work was created by Maurizio Cattelan, an artist famous for his biting art. The sculpture was in 2010 for a retrospective of the artist's work, which took place just a few hundred metres away in the Palazzo Reale. Planned for one month.
The timing was surgically precise: the installation took place at a time when the aftermath of the global financial crisis was still being felt everywhere. And it was precisely there, in front of the headquarters of the stock exchange - the temple of capital - that Cattelan placed his marble slap in the face.
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A marble slap in the face for the financial world
The reactions were not long in coming. Representatives from financial circles were outraged and spoke of an unforgivable disrespect towards an institution that stands for Italy's economy. The demand was loud: The sculpture must be removed. A trial of strength began between financially strong representatives from the business world and influential cultural figures. In the midst of the heated discussion, the artist offered the work to the city as a permanent loan - adding fuel to the fire. And in the meantime, the common people discovered their love of cheeky art.
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Silent provocation instead of loud protest
In the end, the city of Milan decided: „Il Dito“ stayed. And became part of the cityscape - photographed by tourists, staged on Instagram, discussed in the feature pages. Between rushed suits with coffee-to-go and marvelling tour groups, this finger stands like a commentary that does not hold back. Formally, the hand is classically crafted, almost heroic. Four fingers are cleanly separated, only the middle finger remains. It is precisely this mixture of antique appearance and modern gesture that makes the work so effective. It is not a loud sculpture. It does not shout. It simply shows.
A gesture that remains permanent - made of marble: heavy, immovable, public.
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