![gay men kissing art gay men kissing art](https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/poster/10/8/break/images/artworkimages/medium/1/original-watercolour-painting-art-portrait-of-two-men--kiss-on-paper-16-1-26-07-hongtao-huang.jpg)
The Vicariate said that the photos were taken without authorization, and showed “expressions not suitable for a holy place and thus harmful to the religious sentiment of the faithful.” In response to the Vicariate’s threat, Orquin decided to leave his installation in place, but he covered it in black and created a “graveyard” of black crosses below it. Orquin’s Si, Quiero (Yes I Do), an installation of 16 photos of same-sex couples kissing in front of the altars of 16 different churches, caught the attention of the Vicariate of Rome. The three artists had been invited by journalist and art critic Edoardo Sassi to create works on unconventional themes and to treat them in unconventional ways. The works by artists Mauro Maugliani, Gonzalo Orquín, and Luis Serrano were part of an exhibition, Trialogo, subtitled Nuns, Wed dings, Interiors. (See Despite Papal Declarations of Tolerance, Vatican Suppresses Photos of Gay Men Kissing.) According to L’Opera gallery assistant Martina Adami, who was th e only staff member prese nt at the time, five men in their twenties rushed in, and while one distracted her with questions, the others attacked the artworks. Following the threat of legal action against an art gallery by the Vicariate of Rome over an exhibition that included photos of gay men kissing in churches, vandals raided the gallery and spray-painted three works on display.