Monument to the Assassination of Ruggero Pascoli

In the countryside of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, a colorful mosaic monument pays tribute to the 1867 murder of Ruggero Pascoli, father of the celebrated poet Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912). Created in 2017 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the assassination, the monument sits at the exact spot where the crime took place. Ruggero’s brutal murder—when Giovanni was just 11 years old—remains unsolved.

Various civic and private institutions pooled their resources to make the monument a reality. Giovanni Pascoli’s hometown of San Mauro Pascoli—renamed for him in 1932—teamed up with Accademia Pascoliana, a local scholarly organization dedicated to his poetry. Since the murder took place near what’s now the municipalities of Longiano and Sogliano al Rubicone, representatives from those governments also participated in the initiative, as did the local Rotary Club, which helped solicit additional funds and sponsors. 

The task of creating the monument was eventually given to the Academy of Fine Arts in Ravenna, in particular, the students of Professor Enzo Tinarelli, a local artist specializing in mosaics. Beside the mosaic, which was rendered in enameled Venetian glass, a plaque includes two of the poems by Pascoli that inspired its design.