When frogs hit the headlines

A "provocative" sculpture of a crucified frog by one of our favourite artists, Martin Kippenberger, has been condemned by Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope was taking his summer break at a mountain seminary near where the work is on display at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolzano, Italy. As an indication of the power of frog sculpture Franz Pahl, the president of Trentino-Alto Adige regional council, went on an eight day hunger strike in protest ending in his hospitalisation. The offending work has been removed to the third floor from the museum entrance but remains on view. The Museum's director, Corinne Diserens, claims over 26,000 people have visited the frog.
Image: Martin Kippenberger's Zuerst die Füße (Feet First) (1990)