Schoolchildren in Florida were shown a statue of David: parents decided it was porn and forced the director to quit

A Florida school principal was forced to quit after a parent complained that sixth graders were shown pornographic images in class. In fact, in a Renaissance art history class, the children were studying Michelangelo's statue of David. Read more about this story told the publication with the BBC.

The statue of the naked figure of David is one of the most famous works of art of the Middle Ages. David is a biblical character who defeated the giant Goliath.

In addition, during the lesson, the students were shown The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo and The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. Both works depict nude bodies.

One of the parents said that these works are pornography. Two more believe that such material should be agreed with parents before the lesson.

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Tallahassee Classical School Principal Hope Karrasakia said she resigned when the school board confronted her with the choice of leaving voluntarily or being fired.

She was not told the reason for the dismissal, but she attributes it to complaints about the statue of David. Karrasakia held the post of director of the educational institution for less than a year.

The head of the school board, Barney Bishop, recalled that in 2022, the previous director sent notices to parents that Michelangelo or similar works would be discussed in the lesson, but this time they did not.

He called it a glaring mistake and believes parents have a right to know when their child is being taught a controversial topic or shown ambiguous images.

“We are not going to show the full statue of David to the kindergartners. We're not going to show it to second graders. Showing the entire statue of David is appropriate at a certain age. And we intend to clarify which one," Bishop explained.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently ordered an expansion of a state law banning sex education and discussion of gender identity in high schools.

Teachers who violate the law face dismissal, up to and including revocation of their teaching license.

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The statue of David was created by Michelangelo in 1501-1504. The work of the artist's contemporaries was recognized as a masterpiece. One of the Renaissance masters, Giorgio Vasari, once said that David "surpassed" any statue that has ever existed.

In 1857, Queen Victoria donated a copy of the David to the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). Historians claim that the queen was so embarrassed by the nakedness of the character that for her, the genitals of the copy of David were covered with a fig leaf.

The V&A Museum website says that museum staff always kept the sheet on hand in case Victoria visited, hanging it from the statue using two inconspicuous hooks.