August 11, 2010

Italian artist’s unique creations sold by Northglenn church

By Anna Maria Basquez

This story continues the Denver Catholic Register's series on Sacred Art.

It’s easy for Italian wood and silver sculpture artist Paolo Schiraldi to name the saint he prays to every day. He knew the man in life. “Padre Pio,” said Schiraldi, 64, followed by a quiet reverence.

 “We knew Padre Pio as a man,” said Leo Pasagno, 55, who accompanies his artist friend to promote the art he creates from granulated silver and flexible woods.

While Schiraldi is the quieter one even in his native language, Pasagno admits to having a rebellious side.  

“(Padre Pio) took me by the hand when I was 7 years old,” Pasagno said. “I used to go outside the church to play soccer because I didn’t want to go to Mass. He’d grab my ear and say, ‘Bad boy.’” 

As a boy, he still refused to go in to Mass, he said.

Now, they both venerate the saint who lived just 20 minutes from their village of 65,000 called Bitonto.

Some of that reality of knowing a saint helps find its way into the artwork.

“The realism, the quality of the materials and the uniqueness struck me,” said the Father Gregory Ames, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Northglenn. “I like that they’re very traditional images. What was really appealing is it was unique. Everything in America seems mass-produced.

“In our new bookstore, The Word,” he added, “I thought they would be a unique, high-quality item, which is what we’re trying to provide our people with.”

Schiraldi and Pasagno visited The Word, 11385 Grant Drive in Northglenn, last month to start a yearly business shipment agreement.

They dropped off 25 pieces of artwork. One sculpture retailed at about $299. The store has sold five of the pieces since July 20, employees there said.

“Just the details are amazing,” said Michele Murphy, owner and manager of The Word, which is located at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church complex.

Murphy said the depiction of St. Francis of Assisi is getting the most attention.

The piece has an expressiveness of the saint not typically seen in American versions, she said.

Her favorite, she said, is the artist’s depiction of La Pieta: “Jesus’ face is just perfect.”

Schiraldi has labored in his art medium for 37 years. He makes all of his figures in Rome and assembles them in Florence. One of his prime pieces is a large three-dimensional depiction of The Last Supper.

“Paolo is very Catholic and everything that he does, he does because he feels it,” Pasagno said. “With each figure, he feels what he does. He prays every day. I believe he is inspired by God when he does religious work.”

Schiraldi’s work is also sold elsewhere in the United States, in New Zealand, Mexico, Australia and Italy. Different countries have different requests for his artwork. For example, in Australia, Schiraldi sells many images of St. Patrick, St. George and of The Passion, Pasagno said.

In the United States, Schiraldi’s depictions of Our Lady of Fatima, St. Michael and St. Francis of Assisi are popular.

The works are gold- and silver-plated. The gold plates are 25 percent gold, Pasagno said. The elements are often three-dimensional and catch one’s eye with their shine and sparkle. 

It would carry then, that there’s a following in America’s flashiest city.

“We are very present in Las Vegas, Nevada,” Pasagno said.

Schiraldi’s pieces are also sold in California, Texas and Arizona.

Immaculate Heart of Mary’s The Word bookstore is the only shop in Colorado carrying the items.

ART WORK

Paulo Schiraldi’s artwork is carried by The Word bookstore at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
Address: 11385 Grant Drive, Northglenn
Phone: 303-452-2041 Ext. 133
Special appointment: call
303-905-2198