La Nona Ora

La Nona Ora (English: The ninth hour ) is a sculpture by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan from 1999. It shows a life-size replica of Pope John Paul II , who is struck down by a meteorite on a red carpet , in the style of hyperrealism . Shards of glass indicate that the meteorite only recently hit the roof. The title of the work refers to the time Jesus died on the cross. Camille Flammarion's novel La Find du Monde and Wolfgang Paalen's surrealistic picture Pays interdit (Forbidden Land) from 1936–1937 were cited as suggestions or references by the critics . Cattelan created the sculpture out of fiberglass and painted wax. The sculpture is draped in fabric. The meteorite is made of black volcanic stone.

The sculpture is one of the most famous works by Catellan. When it was shown in the Zachęta National Art Gallery in Warsaw in 2001 , two members of parliament rolled the stone aside and tried to erect the papal figure. The responsible museum director Anda Rottenberg was then dismissed.

Web links

• Figure of the sculpture
• Maurizio, come back soon! , In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 28, 2011