An inscription engraved in the statue of San Gavino, the sculpture positioned on the outer top of the roof of the millenary Romanesque basilica (11th century) of Porto Torres, reveals the year 1726, the date on which the sculpture was made, and not 1426 as previously believed. .
It is the result of the study conducted, between 2019 and 2021, by the epigraphist Giuseppe Piras, coordinator of the project called 3D Laser Scanner Relief of the Basilica of San Gavino, launched in 2011 by the Centro Studi, which involved the universities of Pisa. , Siena and Sassari together with a large team of researchers who have studied the monument from different points of view, research that has led to important discoveries so far.
However, with the aid of optical vision instruments, photographic relief and drone images, the examination of the epigraph has surprisingly provided a different interpretative framework compared to the one known so far. The inscription is first of all engraved with a round section awl, in the back part of the cuirass worn by the saint and reports, paginated on three lines, the text: “Estefan Villino 1726”.
The most ancient reference for the dating of the roof of the saint Gavino until today was however represented by an inscription that the former parish priest of the Basilica, Don Antonio Giuseppe Manconi, reported in the 1980s to the architect Vico Mossa who had dealt to conduct the restoration of the monument.
"In his 1988 book, Mossa indicated that, on the shoulder of the statuette of San Gavino - explains Piras - one of the most representative decorative elements of the Basilica also from a symbolic point of view, the date 1456 was engraved together with the name Estefan Villino, a well-known artist belonging to a family of watchmakers who worked for the Municipality of Sassari ”.