Italian artist Andrea Saltini was hosted at a church hosting an exhibition of his work in his northern Italian home town of Carpi, near Modena, on Thursday, sources said.
The show, 'Gratia Plena', is at the center of a row because it features works that have been called blasphemous by some.
The masked attacker entered Carpi's Sant'Ignazio church and started to slash paintings with a knife and spray paint over them, the sources said.
When Saltini tried to stop him, the assailant cut his neck and fled, according to the sources.
The artist was not seriously injured, the sources said.
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