The principal of a Florida charter school was forced to resign after a parent complained that sixth graders were exposed to pornography during a lesson on Renaissance art that included Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. .
The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper reported that the principal, Hope Carrasquilla, of the Tallahassee Classical School resigned this week following an ultimatum from the school board president.
One parent complained that 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 the painting “Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo and the “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli.
“It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” Carrasquilla told the newspaper.
The nudity of the “David” statue has been part of centuries-old debates about the rules of censorship and art that crosses boundaries. In the 1500s, metal fig leaves were placed over the genitalia of statues such as “David” when the Roman Catholic Church deemed their nudity immodest and obscene.
The uproar in Florida also led social media users to point to similarities to a 1990s episode of “The Simpsons,” where characters debate the censorship of the “David” statue.
