Cairo Montenotte, veiled statue for Muslim guests, but Islamists: we didn't ask for it

In Cairo Montenotte (Savona), a statue was veiled to welcome Muslim guests to the City Palace-a case quite similar to the one that broke out in early 2016 at the Capitoline Museums, when some statues were covered to welcome Iranian Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani. An interreligious conference organized by the Italian Islamic Confederation together with the Islamic Federation of Liguria was being held in the palace, and censored were a painting depicting a female nude (replaced with another work) and a statue of the Theban leader Epaminondas, a 19th-century work by Giuseppe Dini (Novara, 1820 - Turin, 1890) and recently restored by Mario Capelli Steccolini.

It was the restorer and artist himself (the painting removed is one of his works, exhibited as part of a solo exhibition) who raised the case: in fact, on his Facebook profile he stated that it would be Muslims who asked him to cover the work. However, the president of the Islamic Federation of Liguria, Lahcen Chamseddine, speaking to La Stampa denied any charges, saying that the idea to cover the painting and statue did not come from Islamists. “We had not even seen the painting,” he said, “and it was the artist who came forward to remove it. We then placed the drape over the statue, since the exhibition was to open the next day, simply because we had reconstructed the depiction of the ancient tea ceremony there and we needed a background to symbolize the desert dunes for the photographs.” He added, “We represent moderate Islam, we are not fundamentalists. We are not asking to remove crucifixes or cover statues, and in fact there were many other such statues and none were covered. Those who want to make controversy have not understood our message.”

However, Mario Capelli Steccolini wanted to tone it down by writing a further Facebook post in which he specified, “Let’s be clear, Epaminonda was covered by the Muslims for their ceremonial needs, I removed the painting at their request. The administration is not at fault.” Also throwing water on the fire is the mayor of Cairo Montenotte, Paolo Lambertini (center-right civic list), who prefers to focus on the positive outcome of the interfaith conference, which fostered the meeting of cultures, and who says it would be a mistake to mount a case about the covered statue.

Mario Capelli Steccolini’s photo posted on his Facebook profile shows the covered statue of Epaminondas.

Cairo Montenotte, veiled statue for Muslim guests, but Islamists: we didn't ask for it

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