'Le Virus du Mal': Portrait of Charles Baudelaire Plowed Into Field Ahead of Bicentennial

An artist in Italy has plowed the face of Charles Baudelaire into a field ahead the 200th anniversary of the French poet’s birth, adding a COVID-19 reference to boot.

Dario Gambarin’s “Virus du mal”, a play on Baudelaire’s famous volume Les fleurs du mal, was created on a 27,000 sq m field using a tractor, plow, and harrow.

Gambarin has previously dedicated numerous works to prominent figures both past and present, including Pope Francis, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Beethoven.

Of his latest work he said in a press release: "200 years after Baudelaire’s birth, his work is contextualized in the emergency we are experiencing today.

“While I was focusing on recreating his face on Earth, I felt that Baudelaire himself was guiding me from above. It was a wonderful moment and as the great poet reminds us all: ‘the most beautiful emotions are the ones you can’t explain’,” Gambarin added. Credit: Dario Gambarin via Storyful