A Florida charter school principal has been forced to resign after a parent complained sixth graders were exposed to pornography in an art history lesson.
According to The Tallahassee Democrat, Hope Carrasquilla, of Tallahassee Classical School resigned this week after an ultimatum from the school board’s chairman.
The art lesson on Renaissance art included Michelangelo’s sculpture, David and Creation of Adam painting and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. 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,
Carrasquilla said.
It saddens me that my time here had to end this way.”
The “David” statue’s nudity has been 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.
The dustup in Florida once again showed that The Simpsons has predicted the future. An episode in the 90s contained a debate about the censorship of the “David”.
Springfield news anchor Kent Brockman sums it up asking,
Michelangelo’s David –a masterpiece, or just some guy with his pants off…?”
Watch.
(Photos, YouTube, Wikipedia; via AP)
