In the Basilica of San Pietro, the Australian naturalized Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth vandalized with 15 hammers the Pietà by Michelangelo The May 21, 1972. Sculpture, of the dimension of 1.74 m × 1.95 m × 69 cm It is a marble marble of Carrara, Made by Michelangelo Buonarroti Between 1497 and 1499, and represents Mary who holds the dead Christ in his womb, completely abandoned in his arms. In the vandal act, accomplished at the cry of “I am Jesus Christ, risen from death”, the mainly destroyed the figure of the Madonnato which an arm was completely detached. Toth, who died in 2012, was arrested and declared mentally infirm and subsequently locked up in an institution, But he has never been accused of crime. The work It was restored in 1973: today it is kept behind one Special bulletproof glass panelinstalled in 2024 to replace the one positioned immediately after the restoration.
The pity of Michelangelo vandalized: what happened
Era Sunday 21 May 1972the day of Pentecost 50 days after Easter, when at 11.30 in the morning in the Basilica of San Pietro a 34 -year -old man jumped the balustrade who protected Micro sculpture of the Pietà di Michelangelo – which represents Christ who died on his lap in Mary – and hit her repeatedly with fifteen hammers.
The man was Laszlo Tothgeologist of Hungarian origin residing in Australia and stationed in Rome. While destroying Michelangelo’s work, the geologist shouted in Italian a phrase similar to “I am Jesus Christ, I resurrected from death.” Toth was initially stopped by the American Bob CassillyThen the pontifical gendarmerie took him away. The man was interned in the Regina Coeli prison, where following an expert report he was recognized to him themental illness. Toth was then transferred to an institute and repatriated to Australia.
From a series of investigations, it emerged that the man had presented himself in the Vatican the previous year, repeatedly asking to speak with the then Pope Paul VI: had then been removed and reported as an unwanted person. To what emerged, Toth felt on the statue because, being convinced of being the risen Christ, the pity he had not in fact reason to exist. It was never offended because recognized not healthy, and died in 2012. The story of this story and restoration is collected in the Rai documentary Violence and pity, Curated by Brando Giordani.
The damage suffered by the statue and the restoration procedure
The fifteen hammers launched by Toth they have not touched the figure of Christ: It was mainly the Madonna who was vandalized. The left arm was completely detached at the height of the elbow, the veil fractured in different points, the nose and the left eye were chipped. The director of the Vatican Museums of the time, Deoclencio Redig de Camposcommissioned Cesare Brandidirector of the Central Institute of Restoration, to follow the restoration works. Thanks to the presence of the kicks of the work, it was possible Use the original fragmentsrestored thanks to a marble and glue mixture.
De Campos firmly opposed a supplementary restorationwhich would have been too intrusive in his opinion. In this regard, he said:
Pietà draws its expressive strength largely from the purity of marble. It is such a wonderfully finished statue that a simple scratch on the face disturbs more than the lack of the arms on Milo’s Venus.
The delicate intervention was carried out by Vincenzo Federici and Nazzareno Gabrielliof the scientific research cabinet, URDERICO GRISPIGNIof the Marble restoration laboratory, Francesco Dataof the Ceramic and Bronzes Laboratory e Giuseppe Morresiof the plastics and artistic reproductions laboratory.
In March 1973 the pity returned to its splendor, placed behind A glass 7 meters away by visitors. In 2024 it was further secured with an antipro -praise diaphragmmade up of 9 millimetric glass, which guarantees transparency and maximum safety.
