During the Counter-Reformation, the painter Daniele da Volterra was known as “Brageton”, given that his job was to hide the nudity of the frescoes, which were considered too scandalous for the time. He spent days masking the genitals painted by the great masters so as not to offend the feelings of fanatics. In those years, the “fig leaf syndrome” was very popular, the mania to censor statues and frescoes by painting a leaf or drapery on them: there are 38 “closed” figures in the Sistine Chapel. Even today, Braghettone would certainly be successful. in Florida, where the director had to resign for showing Michelangelo’s “David” to “too small” children.
Hope Carrasquilla, principal of the Tallahassee Classical School in Florida, said she resigned after the school board threatened to fire her. Parents were upset by a drawing lesson for 11- and 12-year-olds with links to Creation of Adam Michelangelo and Birth of Venus by Botticelli. However, according to some parents it was a mistake to show Michelangelo’s David in full, with a naked body. Someone says BBC, spoke of “pornographic material”. School Board President Barney Bishop III explained Slate that last year the parents were warned before the lesson about David, but this year the principal did not take this precaution.
According to Bishop III, this was a “serious mistake”. “Parents,” he explained, “have a right to know when controversial topics or images are presented to their child.”. The case made headlines after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he plans to pass a law that would ban elementary schools from discussing anything related to sex education, including menstruation. “We wouldn’t show the whole statue of David to the kindergartners. We wouldn’t show it to second graders. Showing the entire statue of David is appropriate only at a certain age, the president of the Tallahassee Classical School concluded. “We have to find out when.”
Source: Elle