The symbolic nature of rats in street art

The XXth century has seen an inversion of the image of a rat in the work of some European artists. Christian culture has been characterized by a negative attitude towards this rodent as the embodiment of the devil, disease and evil. The present study, exemplified by the work of the French street artist Blek le Rat and the English street artist Banksy, reveals the reasons that prompted both artists to destroy the binary oppositions of the beautiful and the ugly in order to achieve an inversion of artistic meanings, having chosen the image of a rat as a multi-layered one. For them, this is a profound and meaningful symbol of adaptation, self-preservation and resilience of an urban marginal, who fights for survival in the tough and inexorable rhythm of the city, like a mirror reflecting the state of society and universal experience.