Italian officials defend "David" statue after Florida "porn" complaints
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Restorer Cinzia Parnigoni cleans Michelangelo's masterpiece "David" during restoration work at the Galleria dell''Accademia in Florence, Italy. Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Officials in Italy defended Michelangelo's "David" sculpture after a Florida charter school principal resigned following complaints that students were exposed to pornography during a Renaissance art lesson featuring the nude masterpiece.
Details: Cecilie Hollberg, director of Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, on Sunday invited the Tallahassee Classical School's principal, school board, parents and student body to visit her museum where "David" resides to see the "purity" of the famous 16th-century marble sculpture, per AP.
- Florence Mayor Dario Nardella tweeted Saturday that he'd "personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her recognition" on behalf of the city.
Meanwhile, Corriere della Sera, a center-right leaning newspaper, ran a cartoon on its front page Sunday featuring an image of Uncle Sam covering the genitals of "David" and the word "Shame," AP notes.
Driving the news: Principal Hope Carrasquilla resigned last week, citing complaints from two parents that they weren't notified in advance that nudity would be shown in the sixth-grade class and a third that described the iconic statue as "pornographic", the Tallahassee Democrat first reported.
Why it matters: The outrage in Italy, which is led by right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, underscores a deep difference between conservatives in the U.S. and Europe, where nude Renaissance masterpieces are not generally considered controversial.
What they're saying: "To think that 'David' could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art," Hollberg told AP, in reference to Michelangelo's depiction of the biblical figure David.
The other side: Representatives for Tallahassee Classical School did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment, but the school board's chair, Barney Bishop, told Slate the issue was not about nudity but that the school's standard practice of notifying parents in advance was not followed.
- "Last year, the school sent out an advance notice about it. Parents should know: In class, students are going to see or hear or talk about this," Bishop said.
- "This year, we made an egregious mistake. We didn’t send that notice. The rights of parents, that trumps the rights of kids."
