Italian artist Pistoletto's 'Venus of the Rags' destroyed by fire in Naples

The sculpture was inaugurated just two weeks ago in Piazza del Municipio, a monumental square in the heart of the southern Italian city

A woman puts flowers next to the charred open-air installation of "Venus of the Rags", following a fire, in Piazza del Municipio, Naples, Italy Jul 12, 2023. REUTERS

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 on Wednesday.

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 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.