‘Confusing art with pornography is ridiculous’: controversy at US school over nude statue of Michelangelo

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Image of the statue of David, by Michelangelo, was used in an exercise with 11 and 12 year old students; school parents in Tallahassee complained that there was no nudity warning. Statue of David, by Michelangelo, in Florence Jörg Bittner Unna/Wikipedia The principal of a school in the city of Tallahassee, in the United States, was forced to resign after the ultimatum of the pedagogical council. Hope Carrasquilla was blamed for showing images of the statue of David, by Michelangelo, in the classroom. The nudity of the work was classified as “pornographic” by one of the parents. The image was used in an exercise in the 6th grade art class — which, in the US, teaches 11 and 12 year olds — at the Tallahassee Classical School. ALSO READ US School Fires Principal After Students See Image Of Michelangelo’s David Sculpture Three parents complained the image was displayed without any warning that nudity would be shown. After the controversy, the director of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, where the statue has been exhibited since 1873, invited the former director of the school and the students to visit the work. Museum director Cecilie Hollberg said Hope Carrasquilla should be “rewarded, not punished”. “Talking about the Renaissance without showing David, an indisputable icon of the art and culture of that historical period, would make no sense,” said Hollberg. The 16th-century marble statue is one of the most famous in Western history. It depicts the biblical hero David going to fight Goliath armed only with a slingshot and his faith in God. Several parents and teachers are planning to protest Carrasquilla’s departure, but she is not sure she would take her job back, if that were possible. Controversy around the image of David, by Michelangelo, causes astonishment in Italy “There was so much controversy and agitation”, she said in an interview with the Associated Press agency. “I would really have to consider, ‘Is this really what’s best for me?'” The controversy has perplexed Florentines and Renaissance art experts. Hollberg said she was “overwhelmed” by the situation and said that thinking that the statue of David is pornographic reveals not only a misunderstanding of the Bible, but of Western culture itself. “I can’t believe this really happened, at first I thought it was fake news, it was so improbable and absurd,” said the museum director. “It is necessary to make a distinction between nudity and pornography. There is nothing pornographic or aggressive about David, he is a young man, a pastor, who even according to the Bible did not wear ostentatious clothes, but wanted to defend his people with what he had. ” The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, also invited the teacher who showed the students the image of David to visit the city and its works of art. “Confusing art with pornography is just ridiculous,” she tweeted. “Art is civilization, and whoever teaches it deserves respect.” In an interview with the Slate website, Barney Bishop, president of the pedagogical council, said that last year the principal sent a statement to parents warning that students would see David’s image, but the same procedure was not done this year. Bishop called it a “blatant mistake” and said that “parents have a right to know whenever their child is dealing with a controversial topic or image”. But, for the art historian and rector of the University for Foreigners of Siena, Tomaso Montanari, “disconcerting” was the repercussion of the image in the USA. “First, there is consternation with the absence of educational freedom, as it should not be restricted or manipulated by families”, analyzes Montanari. “On the other hand, from a cultural point of view, the Western world tends to associate fundamentalism and censorship with other societies, believing that it has the capacity to spread democratic ideals around the world.” “But this cultural backsliding clearly reveals the presence of fundamentalist views in the West as well.”

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