Albert Milani

Alberto "Albert" Palamede Milani (1892-1977), noted Italian sculptor and stone cutter, carved the Candoro Marble Building's exterior ornamentation.

Born in Fossola, Carrara, Italy, a direct descendant of the Duke of Modena, Milani came to America with his mother at the age of four to join his father. The latter was working and teaching under contract at the Blue Ridge Marble Company of Georgia. Upon returning to Italy, Milani attended the Art Academy of Carrara, training in design and sculpture from age nine to fourteen. In 1906 he traveled once more to America with the stipulation that he return to Italy at age twenty. He had a responsibility to serve as a soldier due to his blood relation to the Duke of Modena.

He later refused to go back and was, therefore, banished by the Fine Arts Committee of Italy. For the remainder of his life, Milani was not allowed to purchase Carrara marble, considered the most exceptional in the world. In America, he traveled the country conducting on-site sculpturing, accompanied by his father. Eventually, he settled in Knoxville, where he married Lurley Lee Hickman in 1911 and had four children before her death in 1931. Milani received United States citizenship on June 1, 1931, and officially changed his name, by order of the court, from Alberto to Albert. He was married again in 1934 to Thelma Margaret Hodges and raised two more children.

Milani spent the remainder of his life working primarily for Craig Day Marble Company and Candoro Marble Company, as a foreman. During his career, he made numerous decorative statues for buildings across the United States, usually in a modern Art Deco style. In Knoxville, you can find his work on the Tennessee Supreme Court on Main St. and the 1912 Holston Building, among others. A commissioned sculpture he made for a Knoxville born race car driver, Pete Kreis, recognized as the Most Outstanding Memorial by the New York Times, is located at Asbury Cemetery. Also skilled in both blacksmithing and metal tempering, Milani crafted many of his tools and chisels. He retired in 1967 at age 75 from the Candoro Marble Company and relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida.