Hombre de paz; Costantino Nivola

Hombre de paz, the Man of Peace, is a 1968 work by Constantino Nivola. Station number 7 along the original Ruta de la Amistad, the work is one of the least well understood, and was an abandoned ruin for some 35 years.

The work consists of two geometric bodies, one atop the other. Above both of them is a figure resembling both a dove and an open hand. Perhaps the most baffling thing about it is the tricolor of the Italian flag with which it’s painted. At 11 meters tall, the work dominates what is one of the nicest and most craggy of the landscaped gardens within the Insurgentes Sur/Periférico cloverleaf interchange. Today the area is an ecological recovery zone.

• Costantino Nivola (1911–1988) was an Italian sculptor who worked principally in architectural reliefs, although he was also an accomplished muralist, designer, and teacher. Born in Sardinia, he fled the Italian collaboration with Nazi Germany in 1938 and arrived in the U.S. in 1939. His work adorns many buildings in the United State although much of his work in Italy consists of monumental public sculptures. A museum dedicated to his smaller work opened in Orani, Sardinia in 1994.

In 2006, the Hombre de Paz was moved from its original location a bit further down the Periférico highway. The project included participation from the Italian Embassy, and the Sardinia region in Italy. Since 2007, the work and the extensive volcanic garden has been maintained by the Pirelli tire company with support from Techint, the engineering and construction firm.