Friday, September 18, 2009

La Nona Ora

By: Maurizio Cattelan

This picture is of Pope John Paul II being struck down by a meteorite. In the forground we see glass strewn across the ground and in the background we see the Pope laying on the ground with a meteor on him. This artwork was all clay figures except for the glass.

From what I intake from this piece of art, I clearly notice the Pope being crushed by the meteor. This makes me think that the artist was going against the church or thought that the church was perhaps corrupt.

I also notice that the entire floor is red. To me this is a symbol of blood. Maybe stating that the Pope should be removed or killed.

A couple questions I have is why the artist
would choose to do a piece of art like this, and
if he was going against the church, why was he going
against it?

13 comments:

  1. How would the meteor crush only his legs? That would have happened if he was already laying down. If he was standing up when the meteor struck him, it would have hit his head, wouldn't it? Also, I'm not quite sure what the broken glass is meant to represent. But I don't think it was caused by the meteor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If a meteor was to actually hit the pope his whole body would blow up. If a meteor can whipe out cities then how would the pope survie a meteor hitting him? I think the picture looks like the pope just had a rock dropped on his legs....not a meteor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. why is the guy just laying there wouldnt he put up a little fight if the meteor is crushing his leg ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. maybe the meteor hitting him can represent that god doesnt agree with what the pope is doing with the church

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did he see the meteor coming? If so why didnt he move? And wouldnt there be blood somewhere?

    ReplyDelete
  6. What is the meteor representing? Did the pope deserve this?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Why is he still clutching his staff? he was hit by a meteor; don't you think he would of dropped it? I believe this picture isn't bashing the Pope...but praising him for his hollyness and how he has the help and protection of God to protect him from the meteor. Thats why it is only on his legs, and he isn't even hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I dont understand how the meteor just hit his legs?? That just really confuses me. But i do agree that the pope might not be doing what god has intended for him to do. And now god is punishing him.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree that the meteor most likely symbolizes karma and that the god is punishing him for something that he might have done. I think that the broken glass may symbolize how corrupt the church may be and the falling of the artists' faith in the pope and in the church.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree with the karma statement..Since the pope is clutching onto the scepter it might mean he is trying to hold onto what is left of the religion? He's maybe trying to hold on to traditional values.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was going to say the meteor to me represented karma. To me Yellow hit it dead.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I tried to look up la ona nona. Ona means grace. All I could find for nona was that it's a girl's name. Could this be about a fall from grace? Or that nature is the highest authority? This work raises allkinds of questions? Why the red carpet?

    ReplyDelete
  13. The translation for the picture means The Ninth Hour, and with all the people askin how the meteor hit his legs intead of his body... Maybe, he tripped? I dont know honestly

    ReplyDelete