Vandalism of Michelangelo's Pietà

"Laszlo Toth" redirects here. For other people named Laszlo Toth, see László Tóth (disambiguation).

On 21 May 1972, Michelangelo's Pietà statue in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, was attacked by Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian geologist who believed he was Jesus Christ. With fifteen blows, he removed Mary's arm at the elbow, knocked off a chunk of her nose, and chipped one of her eyelids.^[1] He was subdued by bystanders, including American sculptor Bob Cassilly, who struck Toth several times before pulling him away from the statue.^[2]

A detail view of the Pietà with damaged arm, nose and eye, May 1972

Aftermath

After some debate, it was decided to perform as close to an "invisible" restoration as possible. Restorers took five months to identify over 100 fragments and reattached them using glue along with powder from Carrara marble^[3] (discovering in the process a hitherto unknown initial M carved on Mary's palm by the sculptor^[4]). The restored statue went back on display ten months after the attack, now separated from the public by a pane of bullet-proof glass.^[3]

Laszlo Toth

Toth in 1972

Toth (Hungarian: Tóth László) was born on 1 July 1938 in Pilisvörösvár, Hungary to a Catholic family. After graduating with a degree in geology, he moved to Australia in 1965. As his English was poor and his geology diploma was not recognised, he initially worked at a soap factory. In June 1971, he moved to Rome, Italy, knowing no Italian, intending to become recognised as Christ. He sent letters to Pope Paul VI and unsuccessfully attempted to meet him.^[5][6]

At 33 years of age (the traditional age of Jesus at his death) on the Feast of Pentecost, Toth, wielding a geologist's hammer and shouting "I am Jesus Christ—risen from the dead",^[5][1] attacked the statue. Following his arrest, Toth repeated his claim that he was Christ and said that God had compelled him to destroy the statue because Christ, being eternal, could not have a mother. Toth was deported back to Australia, where psychiatrists did not consider him dangerous, and has not been heard of since.^[7] He was not charged with a criminal offence after the incident.

Toth in literature and popular culture

• Toth is the eponymous inspiration for books of letters by Don Novello.^[8]
• Comic book artist Steve Ditko used Toth's actions as the central metaphor in his 1992 examination of issues concerning creation and destruction, Lazlo's Hammer (corrected to "Laszlo's Hammer" in subsequent reprints and revisions).^[9]

See also

• List of messiah claimants
• List of people claimed to be Jesus
• Messiah complex