Banksy's Sant'Agnese stencil in Naples caged by fast-food owners
A Banksy stencil of Saint Agnes in Piazza dei Girolamini, Naples, has been enclosed in a metal frame by the owners of a new fast-food outlet that replaced a junk shop. The artwork, created around 2011, depicted the saint with a bomb instead of a lamb and a gun over her head, surrounded by found objects. For nearly six years it remained untouched, but now a protective cage with a plaque naming the artist and the 'custodians'—Pizzeria del Presidente and Agostino o’ Pazzo—has been installed. The author, Marcello Faletra, criticizes this as a fetishization and privatization of street art, turning the work into a commodity tied to consumption. The piece originally embodied a post-Dadaist, wild installation that freed the saint from church obscurity, but now it is re-encaged in profane melancholy.
Key facts
- Banksy stencil of Saint Agnes in Piazza dei Girolamini, Naples.
- Artwork shows saint with bomb in left hand, gun over head.
- Junk shop replaced by fast-food outlet whose owners installed a metal frame.
- Plaque reads: 'Opera di Banksy, custodita dalla Pizzeria del Presidente e Agostino o’ Pazzo'.
- Stencil remained untouched for nearly six years.
- Two years ago a reproduction on canvas appeared briefly.
- Marcello Faletra authored the article in Artribune Magazine #37.
- Faletra describes the framing as a return to 'profane melancholy'.
Entities
Artists
- Banksy
- Marcello Faletra
Institutions
- Artribune
- Pizzeria del Presidente
- Agostino o’ Pazzo
Locations
- Piazza dei Girolamini
- Naples
- Italy