Naples has opened its eyes to a scene of desolation: at dawn, a fire of considerable proportions engulfed piazza Municipio.
The heart of the disaster was the Venus of the Rags, a fundamental work of the master Michelangelo Pistoletto.
Authorities are investigating to establish whether the fire was a malicious act.
The flames and the intervention of the firefighters
Firefighters were called to fight the blaze. The work, largely made with rags, a highly flammable material, was exposed without adequate safety measures, making it, unfortunately, an easy target for vandalism and bad weather.
This situation has made the opera particularly vulnerable, especially in a square that often becomes the scene of incivility and hooliganism.
This morning at 5.30 Pistoletto's Venus of rags went up in flames. I doubt the Fire Brigade intervened. Still don't know if it was a hooligan raid. pic.twitter.com/mxBLG896Z0
- Francesco Borrelli (@NotizieFrance) July 12, 2023
The condolences of the city
Francesco Emilio Borrelli, deputy of the Green-Left alliance, expressed his indignation at what happened.
He stressed that this is yet another episode in a series of attacks on monuments, works of art and historic buildings. Among the first to witness the scene of the fire, helpless and grieved, were Michele Sergio, one of the owners of the Gambrinus, and the well-known radio host Gianni Simioli.
«The work made up largely of being there, therefore flammable material, was exposed to atmospheric agents and vandalism without particular security measures in a square where unfortunately, especially at night, continuous acts of incivility and hooliganism take place which we have been denouncing for some time . In a city where monuments, works of art and historic buildings are continually under attack, this is yet another story that really makes us angry. We don't know the nature of the fire but in the meantime it pains us to know that this work was destroyed"
Francesco Emilio Borrelli
The meaning of the work: the Venus of the Rags
Pistoletto's Venus of the Rags is not just a work of art, but a symbol of social criticism.
The artist he used rags, waste materials, to create a Venus, goddess of beauty, contrasting the high and the low, the beautiful and the ugly, the sacred and the profane.
The destruction of this work is a heavy blow not only for the artistic heritage, but also for the social message it represents.
The nature of the fire remains uncertain, but the loss of this work of art is a heavy blow for Naples. This incident brings to light the issue of the safety of works of art displayed in public spaces and underlines the need to adopt more effective measures for their protection.
