Big Foot

I don’t really like this sculpture which is part of three standing outside St Mary’s RC Cathedral in Edinburgh. It is part of The Manuscript of Monte Cassino by Eduardo Paolozzi who was brought up locally although his family came originally from the Monte Cassino area of Italy. During the war when Italians who lived in Britain were interned his father, uncle and grandfather were deported but their ship was torpedoed so this is a sort of memorial to the Italians.

There is a hand, an ankle and a foot which is described as a single gigantic foot, symbol of our root in the earth, a huge hand, agent of creativity, and an ankle, the joint that allows our mobility.
Another description says The sculpture is an allegory of a pilgrimage - the foot which travels and the connecting ankle and the hand receiving alms or hospitality.