In 1998 Maranello marked the centenary of Enzo Ferrari’s birth with a long series of projects and events.
One permanent reminder of the celebrations is the monument to the company’s founder, donated to the town by his son Piero. The statue is a bronze column that retraces the main milestones in Enzo Ferrari’s life and is the work of Marino Quartieri, a sculptor from Modena who was a favourite with the “Drake”, for whom, years previously, he had produced some artworks for the family tomb in San Cataldo cemetery in Modena.
The sculpture stands next to the Town Hall, indicating the strength of the bond between the automotive producer and the community. Placed on a granite pedestal almost two metres high, the sculpture is a kind of bronze “Trajan’s Column” about 5 metres high, two metres in diameter and weighing 6,000 kilos. A long band spirals upward around the column. In three dimensions and in bas-relief, it portrays the key scenes and episodes from Enzo Ferrari’s long life and glorious career, his closest relatives and friends, his staff, the company engineers, the races, the victories, the cars, and all the splendour of the “Drake” and the mythical automotive production company he founded. At the summit of the column and the narrative band are the figure of Enzo Ferrari himself, the Prancing Horse and the wing of victory. Apart from Enzo Ferrari, his sons Dino and Piero and his grandson Enzino, the only people recognizably portrayed on the column are racing-driver Tazio Nuvolari and Sergio Pininfarina, the great designer of the most celebrated GT car models. The other figures, not clearly identified, are drivers and engineers, shown in dramatic action with the cars that wrote the history of the Prancing Horse brand.
The monument to Enzo Ferrari in Maranello is one of the most popular sights for visitors and the place where fans gather every time Ferrari wins a grand prix. Its twin has been donated to the city of Modena and stands in its Parco Ferrari.
Maranello’s commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of Enzo Ferrari’s birth in 1998 also included the international art exhibition “Da Ferrari alla Ferrari” (“From Ferrari to Ferrari”) and the architecture workshop “Mito e luoghi: Ferrari e Maranello” (“Myth and locations: Ferrari and Maranello”, featuring innovative urban planning projects for the town by the Domus Academy design institute.
