Earlier today, Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto‘s giant Venus of the Rags installation in Naples was destroyed by an alleged arson attack. The artwork was first created in 1967 during the height of the Arte Povera movement, in which Pistoletto juxtaposed a statue of the Roman goddess Venus, which alludes to beauty and fertility, against a large pile of rags as a commentary on the adverse effects of consumerism.
The destroyed artwork was the largest of several different iterations of Venus of the Rags that are housed in museums around the world. Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi expressed “deep dismay” at learning the artwork, which has been housed in the city’s Piazza del Municipio, was set ablaze. “Now, however, is the time for a response from the city: I have already heard from Pistoletto, the work will be redone. Violence and vandalism will not stop art, regeneration and culture in Naples,” Manfredi added.
Local authorities are currently investigating the root cause of the incident, but Manfredi told reporters that crowdfunding efforts are currently underway to raise money to have the installation rebuilt.
