Passalacqua Tomb

A tall rectangular stele, sculpted by Francesco Asco, has an upper section consisting of a Greek cross frame edged by a rope motif that ends in a Savoy knot at the top. The frame inside contains a nude male figure, a navigator, depicted on board a boat whose prow can be glimpsed, while with his right hand he holds a rope with which he seems to steer the boat. The lower part of the monument, on which there are inscriptions, ends laterally in two jambs decorated with two boat bows. On the front, four boxwood hedges have been planted to form a Latin cross. At the front of the plinth, positioned centrally, is a rectangular compartment for flowers. The upper part of the frame bears a Latin inscription in capital letters in applied lead sheet: NAVIGARE NECESSE EST - VIVERE NON NECESSE. The sailor is portrayed as he solitarily ploughs the unknown waters on his voyage to the Hereafter. The powerful figure, with muscular shoulders, is characterised by a complex pose in Michelangelo style.
The monument was commissioned by the family of Oscarre Passalacqua, a long- time captain who perished in a shipwreck in 1927. As Franceschini notes, the Latin inscription is intended to emphasise the importance of navigation for survival even at the cost of one's life, a thought definitely shared by the Passalacqua family, for whom the art of seafaring was an existential motif.