MILAN (AP) — Thousands of people gather each evening in Milan to watch the Olympic cauldron, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s intricate knot patterns, as it swells and pulsates with colored light to an original soundtrack in a spectacle that is quickly becoming a focal point of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
The Milan cauldron itself is dramatically suspended beneath the Arco della Pace, or Arch of Peace, erected to honor Napoleon’s expulsion of the detested Austro-Hungarian rulers from Milan. The landmark Sforza Castle is perfectly framed in the background.
The crowd in front of the arch fell to a hush as the sound-and-light show began Monday evening, raising their phones to record the four-minute interplay of engineering, light and soundtrack by Roberto Cacciapaglia, who also composed music for the opening ceremony.
The Olympic flame is encased in a glass and metal container at the core of the Leonardo-inspired structure, which expands from just over 3 meters to 4 1/2 meters (from nearly 10 feet to nearly 15 feet). The show animates Leonardo's geometric studies, finishing in a flourish of pulsating elliptical lights as the outer structure reflects and amplifies the flame.
The Renaissance genius spent nearly 25 years in Milan, where he painted The Last Supper, designed the famed canal system and worked inside the Sforza Castle, which is now showing a long-hidden wall and ceiling painting to Olympic visitors.
An identical cauldron is suspended on a specially built tripod in host city Cortina d'Ampezzo's main square, where the same show is also being held six times from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. throughout the Olympics and Paralympics.
Giulia Orlando, a student from Florence, joined the crowd Monday evening to take in some of the Olympic spirit.
“It was very emotional, like even the music choice was very inspiring. Just seeing a lot of people here together just to see the light show was a joyful vibe, you know what I mean? Everybody together,” said Orlando, adding she was enjoying taking in the mood and seeing athletes around Milan, even if she doesn't make it to a competitive event.
The cauldrons were engineered by the Fincantieri shipyard, but manufactured with aeronautical aluminum in the U.K. to avoid having any of the design elements leaked before their unveiling, said Marco Balich, who led the cauldron project and produced the opening ceremony.
The receptacles within the cauldrons are deliberately small due to sustainability concerns, reducing the amount of gas consumed to keep the Olympic flame lit throughout the Games.
Balich described the cauldrons as “experiential objects,’’ adding that ‘’we made something that has a life, has a spectacle attached to it, an emotional spectacle.’’
While Paris continues to display the 2024 Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens in the summer months, Balich said no such plans had yet been made for Milan or Cortina.
"I would really hope this object that represents so much can be kept as a memory of this very beautiful moment,'' Balich said.
A view of the Olympic cauldron during the evening light show, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)
A view of the Olympic cauldron at the Arco della Pace, during the evening light show, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)
A view of the lit cauldron at the Arco della Pace during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
