Famed sculptor’s death shines a light on Charlotte's iconic disc
Arnaldo Pomodoro’s 1974 sculpture still anchors Trade and Tryon, part of a global collection spanning Milan, New York and the Vatican
The following article appeared in the July 14, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
The man behind Charlotte’s giant bronze disc has died; created distinctive spheres and discs on display around the world
Charlotte’s “Il Grande Disco” uptown (top); with other discs and spheres by Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro in (bottom left to right) Rome, Milan and New York City. (Ledger file photo at top, Rome and Milan via Wikimedia Commons, New York via Shutterstock)
The artist behind one of uptown’s most enduring and recognizable sculptures recently passed away — drawing attention to his similar works in cities around the world.
Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro died last month at age 98. He created “Il Grande Disco,” the bronze disc sculpture that stands 15 feet in diameter at the prominent Bank of America Plaza at Trade and Tryon streets uptown. It was dedicated in 1974.
In noting his death last month, the New York Times said Pomodoro was known for “highly polished but jarringly fractured” spheres and discs made of bronze. One art critic wrote that Pomodoro’s “most persistent metaphor has been to cut away the facade, or skin of things, to get at the vulnerable and fragile inner core.”
Some of his similar works to Charlotte’s “Il Grande Disco” are on display at the United Nations headquarters in New York, inside Vatican City and in Milan and other Italian cities. —Tony Mecia
Related Ledger article:
“An uptown art installation hits the half-century mark” (October 2024)
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