👴🏻 Nonno e nipote
Look closely! This tall bronze figure is called Nonno e nipote. Can you see the small form near the base, holding on to the taller one? Sculpted by Angelo Di Mario in the late 1980s, the work celebrates the special bond between generations — a relationship full of care, trust, and shared stories. The two figures are stylised, with smooth lines and curved shapes, almost like characters stepping out of a dream. Even without faces, you can feel their connection: the upright figure seems to stand as a shield, while the smaller one leans in for comfort and safety. It is a sculpture that speaks without words, reminding us that love often travels quietly from one generation to the next.
Nonno e nipote (Angelo Di Mario, late 1980s) is a bronze sculpture, 68×16×13 cm, housed at the Biblioteca Casa Museo Angelo Di Mario in Vallecupola. The elongated form depicts a tall elder figure with a smaller child form leaning against it. Through flowing, stylised lines, the work expresses a timeless connection between generations — protective, tender, and enduring.
Created in the late 1980s, Nonno e nipote is a bronze sculpture by Angelo Di Mario, now part of the permanent collection at the Biblioteca Casa Museo Angelo Di Mario in Vallecupola. The artist’s composition distils the human experience of intergenerational bonds into an elegant, vertical form: the larger figure stands grounded and slightly inclined, as if to embrace or protect; the smaller form rests against it, suggesting trust, dependence, and affection. By avoiding literal representation, Di Mario shifts the viewer’s attention away from individual identity and towards the universal essence of family connection.
The surface is smooth yet dynamic, guiding the eye along subtle curves that create a visual rhythm. Two openings in the torso, characteristic of Di Mario’s sculptural language, allow light to pass through, softening the mass of the bronze and inviting a play of shadow and illumination. This interaction between solidity and openness mirrors the way memories and values pass between generations: through gaps, silences, and shared moments. The work does not merely depict figures; it becomes a metaphor for continuity and the quiet strength of relationships that endure over time.
The theme resonates beyond the visual arts. In the short story Vallecupola, the closing scene places the protagonist next to his grandmother — a literary image that, much like the sculpture, distils the intimacy and permanence of family ties. In both, the focus lies not in grand gestures, but in the stillness where care and memory reside.
👴🤎👶 Bronze that feels like a warm embrace. Nonno e nipote (late 1980s) by Angelo Di Mario captures the quiet strength and trust between generations. Its flowing lines and gentle forms tell a story without words — one you can feel just by looking. Discover it in Vallecupola’s Casa Museo, where art and memory meet in the mountains of Lazio. #NonnoENipote #FamilyBond #BronzeSculpture #Vallecupola
| Type | Sculpture |
| Title | Nonno e nipote |
| Sculptor | Angelo Di Mario |
| Holding Institution | Biblioteca Casa Museo Angelo Di Mario |
| Subject | Bond between grandparent and grandchild |
| Description | Bronze sculpture representing a grandfather with his grandchild |
| Period | Late 1980s |
| Source | Link |
| Location | Vallecupola (Rocca Sinibalda, RI) |
| Material | Bronze |
| Measures | 68×16×13 cm |