Madonna with Child - Pour Sybille

"Restored Stencil Graffito “Madonna and Child” by Blek Le Rat Unveiled

April 12, 2013

Today, the restored stencil graffito “Madonna and Child” on the building at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 7 was once again unveiled to the public.

Today, the restored stencil graffito “Madonna and Child” on the building at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 7 was once again unveiled to the public. It was created in 1991 by the French artist Blek Le Rat (real name: Xavier Prou) and was rediscovered only at the beginning of 2012 by Maxi K., who had been fascinated by this graffiti as a schoolchild in the early 1990s.

Blek Le Rat is considered the father of stencil graffiti (also known as “pochoir” or “stencil”) . The Parisian artist established this art form in public spaces; the “Madonna and Child” graffiti is considered his oldest surviving work of this kind. After its discovery, the graffiti was restored by the artist and will now remain permanently on public display, protected by a glass panel. It is one of the very few pieces of graffiti in the German-speaking world to have been designated a historic monument.

Blek le Rat dedicated this graffiti to his future wife, which is why he also inscribed it with the words “Pour Sibylle.” The rediscovery of the graffiti is not only a minor cultural-historical sensation but also tells a German-French love story (...)."

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

German text form Leipzog.de https://www.leipzig.de/newsarchiv/news/restauriertes-graffito-madonna-mit-kind-von-blek-le-rat-enthllt

The discussion seems going on. Tags were crossing, posters pasting again and again. Conservation and protection for street art? Anyhow, we were happy to find it by accident in 10/2022.