A dip in the history of art, in the late medieval tradition that saw the patrons of the works portrayed among the saints on religious works, often kneeling in a lower corner.
In Canosa di Puglia, in the large oil painting on canvas (260 cm x 161 cm) dedicated to San Sabino and donated to the Cathedral on the day of the patronal feast, the depiction of one of the patrons, defined by the citizen M5S as "grotesque and embarrassing", aroused social irony and above all controversy.
Under the images of the patron saint and his friend San Benedetto there was, with his face partially covered by a surgical mask representative of the pandemic moment that the world is experiencing, the representation of Sergio Fontana, president of Confindustria Puglia as well as president of the Foundation Archeologica Canosina, which financed the work entitled "Savinus vir dei" by the artist Giuseppe Antonio Lomuscio.
A detail that has not escaped and that has raised the hilarity of some and the irritation of others, with the three representatives of the Municipality of Canosa di Puglia who have resigned from the Board of Directors of the Foundation.
And so, after two days, the painting was removed.
The canvas was discovered at the end of the solemn ceremony that was held on February 9 in the cathedral, in the presence of the highest civil and religious authorities, including Fontana himself.
In a few hours the network was flooded with posts and comments that led the artist himself to clarify the story.
"I claim full autonomy in my interpretative choices", Lomuscio immediately explained, stating that Fontana and the parish priest of the Cathedral, Don Felice Bacco, also depicted in the painting, "during the process had expressly asked me not to be portrayed".
The justification was not enough to calm the controversy.
Mayor Roberto Morra reminded us that "the work cost the Foundation 20 thousand euros" and that "the Foundation lives thanks to funding from the Municipality of Canosa di Puglia, the Puglia Region and the BCC of Canosa", believing that " publicly sourced money must be used for the pursuit of the entity's own statutory purposes, avoiding leaving room for self-celebrations ".
Less than 48 hours later, as communicated by the same Fontana and Don Felice Bacco, the painting was returned to the artist, who "expressed his willingness to review the work in order to clear the field of any exploitation".