Pictures show the last marble work of italian sculptor JAGO (Jacopo Cardillo) titled Piet (Compassion) on display in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Monsanto on the Piaza del Popolo, in Rome, Italy.

Only 33 years old, JAGO is a self-taught sculptor from Italy who has quickly gained attention for the way he transforms marble and stone into emotion.

The compassion piece will be on display until February 28, 2022 and you can watch JAGO breathe life into the marble, with pictures of its creation and progress on his website. Starting with just a concept and block of marble, it’s amazing to see the human pain etched into the face and even the taut fingers, of the grieving subject, until the finished project finally emerges. It truly is as if you’ve witnessed a birthing.

JAGO has become adept at not only using his talent but his social media savvy, to gain attention for his work. He coordinates his art with current events, to amplify the statement he wishes to make. He has sent a sculpture into the international space station and, last November, at the height of the ravages caused by the pandemic, a marble infant appeared in the Piazza del Plebiscito, one of Naples’ central squares, overnight. Naked and abandoned, the baby was named Homeless. It was chained to the ground by its “umbilical cord”. Jago came up with the idea while he still lived in New York and observed,  “Newborns are defenseless just as homeless people.” The homeless baby is part of a “Look-down” art installation and encourages the world to see the vulnerable people who are overlooked and forgotten, babies and adults alike.

The Compassion statue is yet another example of how JAGO combines beauty with conscience.