Marble Floor Wim Delvoye, 2000

Invited to participate in the 5th edition of Arte all'Arte by Roberto Pinto and Gilda Williams, Wim Delvoye chose the deconsecrated church of San Francesco in Montalcino for his work.

"For Arte all'Arte, Wim Delvoye chose to install his work in the deconsecrated church of San Francesco in Montalcino, where he created a classic inlaid floor, using a combination of different cold cuts as tiles. Here too, Delvoye connects 'high' art with popular culture, in this case, the complex marble pavings used since Roman times to adorn sacred spaces, and the local production of a wide variety of cold cuts, sliced and combined into a profane imitation of the noble marble.

The work initially surprises with its appearance: the veins and the coloration of the meat strikingly resemble those of stone. But the scent, texture, and fat that cover Delvoye's entire installation contribute to revealing the strangeness of this floor to the viewer. On one hand, this work presents the vital elevation of the "low" cold cuts into the "high" of this artistic composition, but on the other hand, a work made of this material inevitably decays and rots, reminding us of the death and transience of flesh.

Delvoye chose this deconsecrated church primarily because, alongside his work, one can see some mummies of the friars and an ancient operating table with the related surgical instruments, which are closely related to his floor."

Roberto Pinto and Gilda Williams, Arte all’Arte V, 2000