Cattelan's Crocodile Hangs in Italy's Oldest Baptistery During Cremona Art Week

Maurizio Cattelan's taxidermied crocodile sculpture 'Ego' (2019) is suspended vertically inside the ancient baptistery of Cremona Cathedral as part of the first Cremona Contemporanea Art Week, running until June 4, 2023. The work, previously shown at Blenheim Palace alongside 'La Nona Ora', hangs with its tail toward the baptismal font and mouth toward the dove in the cupola's oculus. The diffuse museum format places contemporary works by artists including abstractionist Olivier Mosset in the former church of San Carlo and Gianni Caravaggio in Palazzo Affaitati across urban sites. The event has reopened debates on contemporary art's public role, aesthetic experience in a multisensory age, and art-religion relationships. The Diocese of Cremona approved the installation, with Bishop Antonio Napolioni supporting the dialogue. The Art Week, organized with the municipality, Diocese, galleries, cultural organizers, industrial association, and Fondazione Arvedi, aims to revitalize the provincial city. A parallel event, PAF – Porte Aperte Festival (literature, music, comics), runs June 8–11, 2023. The article questions whether any work will become a permanent public legacy for Cremona.