- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- European, US markets wobble awaiting Santa rally
- NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of Sun
- Volkswagen boss hails cost-cutting deal but shares fall
- Sweden says China blocked prosecutors' probe of ship linked to cut cables
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Beyond Work Unveils Next-Generation Memory-Augmented AI Agent (MATRIX) for Enterprise Document Intelligence
- Sweet smell of success for niche perfumes
- 'Finally, we made it!': Ho Chi Minh City celebrates first metro
- Tunisia women herb harvesters struggle with drought and heat
- Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal
- Secretive game developer codes hit 'Balatro' in Canadian prairie province
- Stellantis backtracks on plan to lay off 1,100 at US Jeep plant
- Banned Russian skater Valieva stars at Moscow ice gala
- Biden signs funding bill to avert government shutdown
- Sorrow and fury in German town after Christmas market attack
- France's most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream
- Sierra Leone student tackles toxic air pollution
- Amazon says US strike caused 'no disruptions'
- Qualcomm scores key win in licensing dispute with Arm
- Scientists observe 'negative time' in quantum experiments
- US approves first drug treatment for sleep apnea
- Amazon expects no disruptions as US strike goes into 2nd day
- US confirms billions in chips funds to Samsung, Texas Instruments
- Wall Street rebounds despite US inflation ticking higher
Restoring Milan's Duomo, one statue at a time
In a workshop in the Milan suburbs, sculptor Giovanni Calderino completes his latest project -- a battered statue from the top of the Italian city's gothic cathedral, and its gleaming white replacement.
Depicting a bearded man wearing a tunic, the marble statue has adorned one of the Duomo's 135 spires for two centuries.
But decades of harsh weather, pollution and the bombings of the Second World War have taken their toll, leaving it discoloured and missing its right hand.
The damage to the statue was spotted during the twice-yearly inspections of the cathedral, by the institution that has managed the building for 600 years, the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano.
Too fragile to put back, Calderino has created a perfect replica to take its place -- the latest of a steady stream of replacements that maintain the splendour of one of Italy's most famous monuments.
- Born from a block -
"For me, a statue is like a child that I see grow day by day. It is fascinating to see it born from a block of marble after months of work," Calderino told AFP at the workshop, where around 20 stonemasons practise their craft.
There are more than 3,400 statues on the Duomo, on which construction began in 1386.
They are carved from the dazzling pink-white marble from Candoglia quarry near Lake Maggiore northwest of Milan -- and from where Calderino and his colleagues still take marble today.
"Candoglia marble is very beautiful, very special, but it is difficult to work on because it has very large calcite grains that can break, so it is fragile," said Marco Scolari, the geologist in charge of the workshop and quarry.
The techniques of the team in Milan would also be recognisable to the craftsmen of old, albeit with some technological help.
First, Calderino, 46, makes a rough outline in the marble with his chisel.
Then with surgical precision, he sculpts it with a pneumatic hammer, before smoothing it with an abrasive stone.
- 'Adopt' a statue -
In the small backyard of the workshop, the old statues form a silent crowd, waiting for a new home.
Of the around 100 decapitated, disfigured or limbless figures, several have a small white sign around their necks saying "adopt a statue!"
For an annual fee of 25,000 euros ($26,280) for up to three years, companies can take in one of the Duomo statues -- and in doing so, benefit from a tax break, and a little history.
Consulting firm Deloitte took in an imposing depiction of biblical hero Samson and the lion he is said to have killed with his bare hands, created in the 17th century by Giovanni Battista Buzzi.
Such 'adoptions' "bring a little piece of the Duomo into their company", said Elisa Mantia, the Duomo's culture and conservation coordinator.
Many of them end up in the Duomo Museum, where the statues can be admired close up.
L.K.Baumgartner--CPN