An open-air installation of 'Venus of the Rags', one of the most famous works by top Italian contemporary artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, has been destroyed by an overnight fire in Naples, local authorities said.
The sculpture, of which several versions exist in museums around the world, had been inaugurated just two weeks ago in Piazza del Municipio, a monumental square in the heart of the southern Italian city that houses the town hall.
The 'Venus of the Rags', a symbol of the Arte Povera movement of which Pistoletto is a leading member, represents a statue of the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility standing next to a pile of rags.
The installation, first created in 1967, is meant to convey the juxtaposition between the concept of eternal beauty, expressed by Venus, and modern society's social degradation and consumerism.
Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi described the incident as an act of vandalism under investigation by police, and said the installation would be recreated through a crowdfunding effort.
In comments to Italian news agency Adnkronos, Pistoletto said the destruction of his artwork reflected how "we continue to respond to any offer of beauty, peace and harmony with fire and war."
