New Delhi

A school principal in Florida has been forced to resign after a parent complained that students of class 6 were exposed to pornography during a lesson on Renaissance art which included Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. Citing a report from the Tallahassee Democrat, the news agency Associated Press reported on Friday (March 24) that principal Hope Carrasquilla of the Tallahassee Classical School resigned this week after an ultimatum from the school board’s chairman.

Advertisment

Speaking to the Tallahassee Democrat, Carrasquilla said she was saddened that her time at the school had to end this way. 

The principal added that one parent complained the material was pornographic and two other parents said they wanted to be notified of the lesson before it was given to their children. 

The instruction also included Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” painting and Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.”

Advertisment

The kerfuffle in Florida also prompted users on social media to point out similarities to an episode of popular sitcom "The Simpsons" where characters debate the censorship of the David statue. 

The statue's nudity has been a part of a centuries-old debate about art pushing boundaries and the rules of censorship. In the 1500s, metal fig leaves covered the genitals of statues like David when the Roman Catholic Church deemed nudity as immodest and obscene.

In 2016, a controversy erupted when officials erected wooden panels to shield nude statues at Rome’s Capitoline Museums during a visit by then-Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. Italy's then culture minister  Dario Franceschini criticised the decision to cover up the statues by saying that neither he nor then prime minister Matteo Renzi were informed about it. 

Advertisment

Rouhani, meanwhile, thanked Italians as being "very hospitable people” when asked about the gesture.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.