Lo spino del filo spinato

Lo spino del filo spinato stands in Piazza Isolo, Verona, as a large bronze sculpture by Pino Castagna. Its dark surface forms an enormous knot of barbed wire above a black stone base. White paving stones sharpen the contrast, making the sculpture dominate the open square around it.

Local citizens proposed the memorial to honour victims of the Shoah and Nazi deportations during the Second World War. The project brought together Verona, local foundations, and cultural organisations. Architect Giovanni Cenna designed the base and supervised the sculpture’s placement in the piazza. Castagna, who worked as a sculptor, ceramicist, and engraver, spent much of his life in Verona and around Lake Garda.

The bronze structure measures more than six metres long, nearly seven metres wide, and almost six metres high. Its oversized wire knot turns an everyday material into a stark reminder of suffering and remembrance.