Crucified frog upsets devout Italians, says culture minister 釘十字架的青蛙觸怒義大利虔誠信徒

The religious feelings of devout Italians are being hurt by a deceased German artist’s representation of a crucified frog, according to culture minister Sandro Bondi.

Martin Kippenberger’s sculpture — which shows a green frog on a cross, gripping a beer on one side and an egg on the other — is on show at the modern art museum in the northern city of Bolzano.

In a statement, Bondi said the piece “hurts the religious sentiments of many people who see in the cross a symbol of the love of God,” as he lashed out at publicly funded venues that engage in “useless provocations.”

Under pressure from local politicians, museum officials recently decided to move the sculpture from the entrance to the third floor — but they are refusing to remove it from view altogether.

Curators say the sculpture — part of an exhibition that runs until Sept. 21 — is a self-portrait of the artist “in a profound state of crisis.” However, regional governor Luis Durnwalder has said the work is out of place in an area that is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.

Kippenberg, a native of Dortmund who worked in Hamburg, Berlin, Paris and Cologne, died in Vienna in 1997 aged 44. He was a painter, sculptor and photographer, and some of his work is at the Saatchi gallery in London.

(AFP)

義大利文化部長森卓．邦迪表示，虔誠的義大利信徒認為，一位已故德國藝術家的釘十字架青蛙雕塑，冒犯了他們的宗教。

一隻綠色青蛙被釘在十字架上，一手拿著啤酒，另一隻手上則握著一顆蛋；這件馬丁．齊潘柏格的雕塑作品，目前正在義大利北部的波札諾市當代美術館展示。

邦迪在一份聲明中表示，這件作品「觸犯了許多人的宗教信仰，十字架對他們來說是上帝愛世人的象徵」，他同時也抨擊涉入愚蠢挑釁行為的公營場所。

在當地政治人士的施壓下，館方日前決定把這件作品從大門口移至三樓展覽區，但他們拒絕撤下該作品。

美術館管理人員說，這件雕塑是這位藝術家表達「深切危機感」的自畫像。然而，該區行政首長路易斯．杜倫瓦德卻認為，這件作品在這個絕大多數都是天主教徒的地區展覽實在不太恰當；該展覽展期至九月二十一日為止。

生於多特蒙德的齊潘柏格曾在漢堡、柏林、巴黎及科隆等地創作，一九九七年於維也納逝世，享年四十四歲。他身兼畫家、雕塑家和攝影師；他的部份作品在倫敦的薩奇畫廊展出。

（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）