Recanati Comics Festival poster faces blasphemy complaint

Lawyer Mario Pinelli has filed a formal complaint with the Macerata Prosecutor's Office seeking the seizure of a promotional poster for the 2026 Recanati Comics Festival. The complaint alleges religious blasphemy and the denigration of sacred iconography.

The poster, commissioned by the Arcadia Cultural Association from Spanish artist Miguel Angel Martin, is a reimagining of Lorenzo Lotto’s 16th-century masterpiece, ‘The Annunciation’. Pinelli argues that the artwork is a “vulgar, parodic, and sacrilegious reworking” of the original religious scene.

The contested imagery depicts the Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel, and God the Father with elements of nudity, gas masks, and BDSM-related accessories such as collars and harnesses. Pinelli contends that these depictions exceed the boundaries of satire and free artistic expression, constituting a profound injury to religious sentiment and an outrageous mockery of Catholic symbols.