Look what caught our attention as we walked to the Rome Airport Hilton elevators this morning after breakfast.
We’d never noticed it during previous stays, and snapped a photo so we could research it when we returned to our room.
Arnaldo Pomodoro “Sfera con Sfera 1997/1999 (Bronze)”
Well! It seems Pomodoro, who died in 2025 on the eve of his 99th birthday, is considered one of Italy’s leading sculptors, known in particular for his detailed “Sphere Within Sphere” sculptures.
His massive bronze spheres, starting with a commission at Montreal’s Expo ‘67, adorn more than 40 locations from the Vatican Museums to the United Nations… to the Rome Airport Hilton. We haven’t yet discovered how or why the Hilton acquired one.
Italy’s Culture Minister is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying that Pomodoro’s “wounded spheres” symbolize “the fragility and complexity of the human and the world.”
The artist himself said the smooth globes with clawed out interiors represent the superficial perfection of exteriors and the troubled complexity of interiors.
That’s worth a few more photos.
As for our stay at the Rome Airport Hilton, we could have written about our newly renovated Executive Floor room, the Executive Lounge tucked away at the back of the restaurant, or even the dinner and breakfast we enjoyed.
Instead, we’re writing about a sculpture and its creator, a famed artist whose last name translates literally into English as Tomato.
You never know where you’ll find art in Italy. If you ever happen to stay at this Hilton property, you’ll find this magnificent sculpture near the elevators.