Graffiti intended to provoke awareness

PALERMO, Italy, May 9 (UPI) -- A graffiti mural of a mafia kingpin found on a cathedral in Palermo, Italy, was painted to encourage public awareness of organized crime, the artists say.

The mural, painted by artists Filippo Bartoli and Alessandro Giglio, is made up of four portraits of Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro, all identical, except in color, ANSA reported Friday. Denaro is thought to have become the head of Cosa Nostra in Sicily.

"'What we did was only an artistic provocation towards a city which is too silent and too immobile when it comes to art," one of the artists said.

It is reported the images are similar to portraits of actress Marilyn Monroe painted by U.S. pop-artist Andy Warhol.

The mural, created Jan. 20, is a direct copy of another mural on a wall close to the law school of the University of Palermo, ANSA said.