This work by Lucio Fontana articulates his interest in expanding the spatial boundaries of the two-dimensional picture surface. The torn and scratched paper suggests the violent acts found in Christian iconography, such as the Crucifixion. Such acts of aggression and self-laceration echo certain artistic trends, namely painterly abstraction, Dada, and Surrealism. Although the gouged paper speaks to the sculptural potential of the picture surface, the perforations can also be read as rhythmic patterns and as objects in space.