Michelangelo Pistoletto was invited to create his Nativity version in memory of the masterpiece stolen from the Oratorio di San Lorenzo in Palermo in 1969 and never recovered.
The artwork, titled Annunciazione Terzo Paradiso (Annunciation Third Paradise), was unveiled on December 24 and will remain on the oratory's altar until January 8, 2025. It will then be relocated to the anti-oratory until October 17, 2025, marking the anniversary of the tragic theft.
Following the exhibition's two core rules—maintaining the original painting's dimensions (268x197 cm) and depicting a Nativity—Pistoletto embraced the challenge by reinterpreting the piece as one of his iconic mirrored paintings. The large reflective surface evokes Caravaggio's painting iconography, featuring an angel. However, the angel’s scroll is replaced by the symbol of the Third Paradise, a reconfiguration of the mathematical infinity sign, symbolizing balance between nature and artifice and hope for a new humanity.
