BOLZANO, Italy—Italian politician Franz Pahl revealed today that Pope Benedict XVI has criticized Martin Kippenberger's controversial sculpture of a crucified frog, ANSA reports. The pope wrote to Pahl in a letter on August 7, saying the artwork "has injured the religious feeling of many people who see in the cross the symbol of the love of God and of our salvation which deserves recognition and religious devotion." Benedict was vacationing in Bressanone, a town near Bolzano, and discussed the work with local bishop Wilhelm Egger.

Kippenberger's sculpture has sparked controversy since its installation in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Museion) of Bolzano in May. Critics say the work offends the sensibility of the region's 99 percent Christian population, and Pahl began a hunger strike in an attempt to have the sculpture taken down. The strike ended in his hospitalizaion after eight days.

Museum curators maintain that the work is a self-portrait of the artist "in a state of profound crisis" rather than a religious commentary. Though they have moved the sculpture from the entrance of the museum to a more out-of-the-way position, they refuse to remove it. Museion director Corinne Diserens said 26,000 people have visited the frog since May; she has also criticized local politicians for exploiting the artwork as an issue in anticipation of October's local elections.

Yesterday, members of the provincial government, who form the majority of Museion's board of directors, said they would meet with museum officials on Thursday and ask for the sculpture to be taken down. Diserens maintains that Kippenberger's work will remain up until the temporary exhibition ends on September 21.

This is the second time the Bolzano museum has faced controversy because of an artwork. In 2006, Museion officials were taken to court over an installation by Roman artists goldiechiari (Eleonora Chiari and Sara Goldschmeid) that involved a toilet flushing to the tune of the Italian national anthem.