Florida principal ousted after parent complaints about Michelangelo’s ‘David’ statue

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  A Florida charter school principal has been 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 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 centuries-old debates about the rules of censorship and art pushing boundaries. In the 1500s, metal fig leaves were placed over the genitals of statues like “David” when the Roman Catholic Church deemed their 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.