LOVE sculpture goes bilingual for pope [photos]

Pope Francis is reportedly not comfortable speaking English — at his major public appearances this weekend in Philadelphia he will speak in Spanish.

A new sculpture will make him feel at home in the city of brotherly amor.

The sculpture by Robert Indiana is the Spanish-language version of his famous LOVE sculpture. Installed at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, AMOR pairs with its English counterpart in Love Park to bookend the Parkway with good feelings.

The temporary installation, sitting on a concrete plinth at the top of the museum steps, will provide a backdrop to the pope while he celebrates Mass on the Parkway. Then it will remain for four months, in time to announce the opening of the museum’s upcoming exhibition of international pop art.

Indiana made a handful of AMOR sculptures.  One is installed in Washington DC. This one was borrowed from an overseas storage facility and does not have a permanent home. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Association for Public Art partnered to bring it to Philadelphia, with the possibility of keeping it here permanently should the city show enough love for it.