Yet another inspection by the Molise Superintendency of the Libero Serafini monument Agnone which requires renovation works considering the precarious conditions in which it finds itself. Yesterday morning, the superintendent Dora Catalanoaccompanied by the deputy mayor and councilor for culture of the municipality, Giovanni Di Nucci, together with technicians and engineers, viewed the work which is beautifully displayed in the city centre. For the total restoration work the estimated sum would be more than 50,000 euros, savings that the Municipality would not have available at the moment.
However, a hand could come from the blood donor association Fidas, which in agreement with its members has been subsidizing the construction of public works in the various centers of northern Molise for years. The contribution from Fidas Agnone would cover the waterproofing works on the monument and is currently being examined by the Superintendency. The monument dedicated to Libero Serafini, martyr of the Neapolitan revolution, was inaugurated in 1899, one hundred years after his death (1799). The work was created by the sculptor professor Gasbarra of the study of the senator of the Kingdom, Giulio Monteverde, who had already created commemorative monuments in the past, including one to Mazzini and one to Vittorio Emanuele II. All commissioned by a committee made up of citizens, the Municipality and sponsored by the newspapers of the time ‘L’Eco del Sannio’ (founded by the lawyer Vincenzo Labanca) and ‘Aquilonia’ (founded by Anthony Apollonius). Argentine emigrants also participated in financing the works, in particular those from Buones Aires, who contributed a large sum.
“On the morning of 8 December 1899 – we read in an old article preserved in the municipal library – the mayor, Cavalier Ionata, began the celebrations which began with a procession made up of school pupils, citizens, local authorities and the band that sang patriotic anthems. The main oration in memory of Serafini was entrusted to the major of the military engineers, Giovanni Paolantonio. The day ended at the city theater with various theatrical and musical performances dedicated to the revolutionary Agnonese”.
About nine meters high, the obelisk located in what was once Largo Fontana Rosa and Piazza della Vittoria (currently John Paul II), supports a bronze work on the base of local stone, consisting of a large eagle with spread wings, which intertwines the his claws to the consular fasces, to the cap of the Republic, to the palm of Martyrdom and to the flag. On the upper part of the Baveno granite obelisk, which ends with a bronze star, there is the following inscription: “To Libero Serafini. The Homeland 1899”. The monument represents an iconic symbol for the people of Agnone, but in the 125 years since its creation it has never been the subject of restoration or consolidation work.
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