The statue of Mary the Immaculate Conception in the center of the school courtyard entered its second phase of beautification.

A new plaque was recently installed at the base of the statue, commemorating Reno Taini ’59 and the legacy of his father, Gaspare Taini. Gaspare was the school gardener who saved the statue from falling during an earthquake in 1957.

In August, V Fontana & Co., along with Reno, came on campus to install the plaque. According to Reno, the installation process took about two hours. Reno wrote the words on the plaque, and said, “The Fontana family selected the marble and put the letters in place to tell the story.”

While another earthquake is possible, Reno is hopeful the statue will hold up. “To me, at this age, I can only say that I have been through many earthquakes where the shock waves bypassed delicate structures for reasons unknown to me.”

Although many people have been trying to figure out who the sculptor of the statue is, there are no leads as of yet. Reno said his father “Came from a village near where it was made. In his time, a village statue was a very deep symbol of faith. Today it still prevails.”

To this day, the name of the artist remains a mystery.