Visitors flocked to see Michelangelo’s sculpture of David in Florence on Tuesday, following an uproar over a Florida school’s decision to force its principal to resign over complaints about a lesson featuring a period masterpiece Renaissance.
Tourists, many of them Americans on spring break or studying abroad, posed for selfies in front of the giant marble statue, featuring the biblical David, naked with a sling over his shoulder and a rock. stone in hand, ready to fight Goliath.
Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia, where the sculpture is housed, reopened on Tuesday after closing on Mondays, and neither tourists nor locals can enter through controversy.
“It’s a piece of history,” says Isabele Joles from Ohio, who is studying French and Italian art with her school group. “I don’t understand how you can say it’s porn.”
She and other guests were reacting to the Tallahassee Classical school board’s decision to pressure Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of David was shown to a sixth grade art class.
Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained they were not informed in advance that nude images would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue, which was considered the pinnacle of Renaissance, erotic sculpture. The school has a policy that requires parents to be informed in advance about “controversial” topics being taught.
Over the weekend, both the mayor of Florence and the museum director expressed skepticism about the fuss and issued an invitation for the ousted principal and the school community to come see the sculpture for themselves.
“We’re talking about the roots of Western culture, and ‘David’ is the height, the pinnacle of beauty,” museum director Cecilie Hollberg said in an interview Tuesday, as tourists Scroll through her selfies with the statue.
Controversy is not just a topic of conversation in Florence. On Monday night in Tallahassee, a large crowd gathered at a school board meeting to discuss the controversial statue of David issue that lasted more than an hour. Democracy Tallahassee reported. Some parents and teachers criticized the board and even demanded the resignation of president Barney Bishop.
“Given the displeasure of all these parents with your leadership, are you willing to lead us with integrity by resigning?” ask teacher Ben Steigner.
Bishop declined, saying he intends to continue as chairman until the end of his term in May and then another year on the board, the newspaper reported. The five trustees are elected by themselves, not the parents, and serve three-year terms. New principal Cara Wynn told the school board that nine students have left the school since the David controversy began, but that three students have already signed up.
Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. Although it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is popular with parents looking for an alternative to the school’s curriculum. public school. About 400 students from kindergarten to 12th grade attend the three-year-old school, which now has a third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan, often consulted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on educational issues.
However, the Florida Department of Education stayed away from the controversy and the school’s decision.
“The statue of David has artistic and historical value. Florida encourages instruction on classics and classical art, and will not prohibit its use in the guide,” the department said in a statement. “The issue at Tallahassee Classical School is between the school and an employee, and not the influence of state rule or law.”
At the museum on Tuesday, visitor Brian Stapley from Seattle Washington said he was saddened for the school’s children.
“It was one of the most incredible parts of our history,” he said as he waited in line to enter the museum. “I feel so sorry for the kids who didn’t get to see it.”
