One of the most famous works of the contemporary Italian painter Michelangelo Pistoletto, “Venus with the Papyrus”, burned to the ground in Naples. writes about it Guard.
An installation depicting a statue of the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility next to a large pile of burnt colored clothing in front of the town hall of the southern Italian city where she is displayed. Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said the fire was “an act of violence that has left us speechless”. He promised to restore the plumbing.
Pistoletto told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that there could be many reasons for setting the plant on fire.
“This is a work that calls for a revival of the need to find balance and harmony between the two minds represented by beauty on the one hand and consumer goods, disaster on the other. The world will still be engulfed in flames. The same spirits who waged war set Venus on fire,” said the 90-year-old artist.
Examining CCTV footage from the area, police arrested a 32-year-old homeless man on suspicion of setting fire to an artwork.
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