An open-air set up of “Venus of the Rags”, some of the well-known works by Italian modern artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, was destroyed by an arson assault in Naples, Mayor Gaetano Manfredi stated on Wednesday. A brand new, big model of the sculpture, of which a number of examples are on show in museums world wide, was inaugurated two weeks in the past in Piazza del Municipio, a monumental sq. within the coronary heart of the southern Italian metropolis.

Speaking to reporters in entrance of the burnt down paintings, Manfredi described the incident as an act of vandalism underneath investigation by police, and stated the set up could be recreated by means of a crowdfunding effort. The “Venus of the Rags”, a logo of the Arte Povera motion which counts Pistoletto amongst its main members, reveals the Roman goddess of affection, magnificence and fertility standing subsequent to a pile of rags.

The set up, first created in 1967, is supposed to convey the juxtaposition between everlasting magnificence, represented by the goddess Venus, and trendy society’s social degradation and consumerism. In feedback to Italian information company Adnkronos, Pistoletto stated the destruction of his paintings mirrored how “we continue to respond to any offer of beauty, peace and harmony with fire and war.”

(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Devika Syamnath)

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