After a parent complained that their child’s sixth-grade child had been exposed to pornography, the principal of a Florida school was forced to retire.
Students were shown Michelangelo’s figure of David during a course on Renaissance art, which is where the complaint originated.
One of the most recognizable statues in Western history is the renowned statue.
However, one parent claimed the readings were sexual, and two more said they wished they had known more about the class before it began.
The 5.17m (17ft) statue of David, the biblical character who slew the enormous Goliath, shows him completely naked.
The 11 and 12-year-old students’ lesson also included mention of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” paintings.
Hope Carrasquilla, the principal of Tallahassee Classical School, claimed that the school board had offered her the choice to resign or be fired.
According to local media, Ms. Carrasquilla did not know why she was asked to quit but thought it was because of complaints about the lecture.
They added that Ms. Carrasquilla had only been the principal for a short time.
According to Barney Bishop III, the chair of the school board, last year the administrator sent a notification to parents informing them that children would be seeing Michelangelo’s David, but this year that wasn’t done. “Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture,” he said, calling it a “egregious mistake.”
We won’t show kindergarteners the entire statue of David. We won’t display him to second graders. At a certain age, it is appropriate to display the full David statue. We’ll determine when that is, Mr. Bishop added.
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, moved to broaden a legislation that forbade the teaching of gender identity and sexual education in public schools on Thursday.
Teachers who break the law risk having their teaching credentials revoked or suspended.
Between 1501 and 1504, Michelangelo finished the David. Giorgio Vasari, a Renaissance artist, declared the David “surpassed” all other statues that had ever existed, and it was immediately regarded as a masterpiece.
In 1857, Queen Victoria gave a replica of the David to the South Kensington museum, which later became the V&A. She must have been so horrified by the nakedness when she first viewed the cast that a fig leaf was ordered to cover the genitalia.
The leaf was stored “in readiness for any royal visits, when it was hung on the figure using two strategically placed hooks,” according to the V&A website.