Sculptor of bronze bull, a Wall Street symbol, dies

The artist who sculpted Charging Bull, the bronze statue in New York that became an iconic symbol of Wall Street, has died in his hometown in Sicily at age 80.

Arturo Di Modica died Friday at his home in Vittoria, the town said in a statement. Di Modica had been ill for some time, it said.

The sculptor lived in New York for more than 40 years after arriving in 1973 and opened an art studio in the city’s SoHo neighborhood. With the help of a truck and crane, Di Modica installed the bronze bull sculpture in New York’s financial district without permission on Dec. 16, 1989.

The artist reportedly spent $350,000 of his own money to create the 3.5-ton bronze beast that came to symbolize the resilience of the U.S. economy after a 1987 stock market crash.

BARCELONA, Spain — Authorities in Spain braced Saturday for a fifth night of protests over the imprisonment of a rap artist for having insulted the Spanish monarchy and praised terrorist violence in his music.

Organizers called for demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona, where protests on previous nights this week featured some clashes with police, property damage and looting.

Around 80 people have been arrested, including four on Friday night, and more than 100 people injured since rapper Pablo Hasél was arrested Tuesday in the northeast city of Lleida and taken away to start serving a 9-month prison sentence.

Police in Catalonia, the region surrounding Barcelona, have reported at least three mob attacks on police stations, and rioters smashed their way Friday night into bank offices in downtown Barcelona.

Arturo Di Modica