Principal resigns after complaints on ‘David’ statue nudity

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. >> A Florida charter school principal has been forced to resign after a parent complained sixth graders were exposed to pornography during a lesson on Renaissance art that included Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the principal, Hope Carrasquilla, of Tallahassee Classical School resigned this week after an ultimatum from the school board’s chairman.

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

“It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” Carrasquilla told the paper.

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 kerfuffle in Florida also prompted social media users to point out similarities to a 1990s episode of “The Simpsons” where characters debate the censorship of the “David” statue.