MIAMI, April 5 (UPI) -- The statue of Italian Adm. Andrea Dorea is headed home to Italy from Jacksonville, Fla., after years on the bottom of the Atlantic and then in a saloon.
The statue of the 16th century seafarer adorned the cruise liner Andrea Doria when it was rammed by the MV Stockholm and sank off the U.S. coast, the Florida Times Union at Jacksonville reported Monday.
It was salvaged by divers in 1964 and displayed in a Massachusetts social club, its salvager's ship and a south Florida hotel before spending the last 25 years in the Palace Saloon at Fernandina Beach, Fla. It then moved to the lawn in front of the saloon.
Artisan Gary Knappenberger and salvage ship Capt. Dan Turner have decided to return it for a scheduled June museum exhibit in Genoa, Italy, after it is restored.
Somewhere along the way the statue lost is sword and its feet, but they are being replaced with replicas crafted by Knappenberger.
