Pope Demands Ban on Crucified Frog Sculpture

-- Thursday, August 28, 2008

-- Fox News --

A depiction of frogs in a modern art sculpture that would make Kermit blush has also been condemned by Pope Benedict XVI and labeled as blasphemous.

The 4-foot wooden artwork in question is a crucified green frog holding a beer mug in one hand and an egg in the other, Reuters reported.

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The board of the Museion Museum in Bolzano, Italy, met Thursday to decide whether to side with the pope and other "frog" critics, or with those who say it should be recognized as a work of art. They decided to keep it.

Late German artist Martin Kippenberger’s “Zuerst die Fuesse," (Feet First), depicts the frog in a loin cloth, nailed to a cross through its hands, with its tongue hanging out of its mouth.

"Surely this is not a work of art but a blasphemy and a disgusting piece of trash that upsets many people," Franz Pahl, president of the regional government who opposed the sculpture, read from a letter from the Vatican to Reuters.

The Vatican letter said that the work "wounds the religious sentiments of so many people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love."

Pahl was so offended by “Feet First" that he went on a hunger strike to demand its removal and had to be taken to hospital this summer.

The sculpture does have its supporters as well.

"Art must always be free and the artist should not have any restrictions on freedom of expression," Reuters quoted Claudio Strinati, a superintendent for Rome's state museums.

Kippenberger's work has been shown at the Tate Modern and the Saatchi Gallery in London and at the Venice Biennale, and retrospectives are planned in Los Angeles and New York, Reuters reported.

-- Could you imagine if it had been a sculpture of the "prophet toadhammed", there would be protests, killings and mayhem in the streets. The gallery would have yanked it faster than a ham sandwich in a Turkish cafeteria and people would be denouncing the artist as insensitive. Sheeesh. -- KJC402