The King of Street Art has embarked on a new project, saving the English prison of Reading, in which Oscar Wilde spent two years locked up.

11 million euros. This is the sum that the most famous of strangers would be ready to pay to save this iconic place in England, classified as a historic monument since 1978, and prevent it from being bought by a real estate developer. The penitentiary, located not far from London and closed since 2013, is famous for having hosted the novelist Oscar Wilde from 1895 to 1897, after he was convicted of his homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. He will also draw a very famous poem, La ballade de la gaol de Reading, written during his exile in France, and of which here are the famous six last verses:

And all men kill the thing they love, By all let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, a bitter look Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword! (The brave with a sword!)

Banksy also declared about the author that he “had no equal in making two discordant ideas collide and draw magic from them. Making the place that destroyed it a haven for art seems like a no-brainer, we can't not do it.” Because if the proposal of the graffiti artist is accepted by the ministry, he intends to transform this place into an artistic and cultural center. A project supported by many local and public figures, including Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet. To finance his proposal Banksy wants to sell a stencil of a work made a little earlier this year on the walls of the prison, which represents none other… than Oscar Wilde!

This is not the first time that Banksy and Reading prison have shared the news, since a work by the artist on the prison was vandalized in March, our article is not here Banksy