Rome, November 12 (Adnkronos) – A bad adventure this afternoon for the Industrial Advisor of the Sardinian region Emanuele Cani who, while serving in the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, slipped and ended up breaking the lower right part of the stained glass window ‘La Carta del Lavoro’, made by Mario Sironi and completed in 1932. Cani himself confirmed this to Adnkronos: “I slipped on the stairs, I fell and ended up on part of the glass window, which broke after collision.” The councilor said he was saddened by the incident: “I’m fine, I just have a few bruises, but nothing serious. I’m very sorry for the damage.”
The accident occurred at around 3 pm today inside the Piacentini Vaccaro building, Mimit’s house. Councilor Cani was treated at the scene by 118 personnel for minor injuries he suffered as a result of the collision which caused Sironi’s windows to shatter.
Born in Sassari in 1885, Mario Sironi was also a sculptor, architect, illustrator, set designer and graphic designer. In the 1930s he theorized and practiced a return to mural painting. Among his most famous works is also ‘Italy between Art and Science’, created in 1935 on the back wall of the 100 m2 Aula Magna of the Rectorate of the University of La Sapienza in Rome.
“I am very sorry for what happened and, wishing councilor Cani a speedy recovery, I hope that action will be taken as soon as possible for the restoration of one of Sironi’s most important works of monumental art” Giorgio Enea Sironi, Mario’s nephew, who has been dealing with his figure for years through the Mario Sironi archives, told Adnkronos, commenting on the news of the accident.
After careful restoration, the monumental stained glass window ‘La Carta del Lavoro’ by Mario Sironi (Sassari, 1885 – Milan, 1961) again shows all its expressive power in 2014 on the grand staircase of the Palazzo Piacentini in Rome, built between 1928 and 1932 by architects Marcello Piacentini and Giuseppe Vaccaro as the headquarters of the Ministry of Companies. After the war, the city became the seat of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Crafts, the Ministry of Productive Activities since 1999, the Ministry of Economic Development since 2006, and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy since 2022.
Created in 1932 on the orders of the Minister of Corporations, Giuseppe Bottai, to celebrate the labor reforms of the fascist government of 1927, Sironi’s monumental work covers an area of approximately 75 square meters and represents arts and crafts with powerful figures and industrial symbols, ranging from flocks of airplanes to smokestacks, glorifying effort and the value of work.
The 2014 restoration, financed by Acea on the occasion of a major monographic exhibition dedicated to Sironi at the Vittoriano Complex, highlighted the original color of the glass and consolidated the damaged surface through advanced techniques such as sponging, araldite infiltration and protection with silicates. On the occasion of the retrospective, visitors have the opportunity to admire not only the restored work, but also the preparatory cartoons and correspondence between Sironi and Bottai, documenting the creative process and the tight deadlines of the ministerial commission. ‘La Carta del Lavoro’ represents one of the highest expressions of Sironi’s monumental season – among the initiators of artistic movements of the twentieth century – with a powerful visual language that combines the precision of sculptural form with a celebration of industrial modernity that conforms to the canons of fascist apologies. (Paolo Martini Profile)
