«I like the idea that someone is trying to save the Pope, like an upside-down miracle, coming not from the heavens but from earth,» Cattelan told Artnet News through a spokesperson. «In the end it is only a piece of wax.»

«But seriously folks, this picture is from a work of art entitled "The Ninth Hour," by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which features a wax likeness of the Pope after being struck by a meteorite. It recently sold for $3 million.»

Aka «Pope Struck By a Meteorite.» ~ Robert Rosenblum.
«Pope struck by meteor, again.» ~ blogger Mike Daisy.

POLISH POLITICIANS ATTACK CATTELAN SCULPTURE

On Thursday, December 21st, Catholic members of Poland's parliament attacked Maurizio Cattelan's The Ninth Hour, a sculpture depicting Pope John Paul II lying on the ground after being struck by a meteorite, reports the Agence France-Presse.

On view at Warsaw's National-Gallery, Cattelan's provocative work had already occasioned much negative comment when the politicians removed the meteorite from the tableau and tried to stand up the figure of the pope. The work, which takes its title from the hour of Jesus Christ's death, was featured in the Royal Academy in London's Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art. The Warsaw exhibition is curated by Venice Biennale artistic director Harald Szeemann; Cattelan is the only non-Polish artist included. The exhibition is continuing, though the gallery containing The Ninth Hour remains closed. ~ Giovanni Garcia-Fenech.

La Nona Ora, 1999
Red carpet, glass, wax, painted lifesize figure
Venice Biannual installation.

source: artnet.com, mikedaisey.com, bluemassgroup.typepad.com, thetearsofthings.net, democratici.sm