The curvy statue of a mermaid in the square of a fishing village has been criticised for being "very vulgar".
Students at the Luigi Rossi art school in Monopoli in Puglia, Italy created the statue before it was placed in a town square.
It has since been ridiculed on social media as many say they are "perplexed" by its design.
One wrote on Facebook: "Very ugly and vulgar, seeing that the only known little mermaid (Amsterdam) doesn’t have hair but only the fin - It’s a shame it could have been more graceful."
Another wrote:" A sickening image of a woman."
The statue is of a giant mermaid with a long fin that curves around its body. It has long hair and an exposed back, showing two round butt cheeks. It also includes a pair of large breasts with its arms folded across, images published in the Monopoli Times show.
Bari-based actor Tiziana Schiavarelli wrote on Facebook that a friend in Monopoli had “rightly expressed some perplexity about this ‘monument’”.
She wrote: "It looks like a mermaid with two silicone breasts and, above all, a huge arse never seen before on a mermaid. At least not any I know.”
Schiavarelli wrote she didn't have an issue with the art students or the council that commissioned the work.
She added that she did not have an issue with the art students or the local council that commissioned the statue.
She wrote: "But I am very amused by this thing … who knows if it will become a further attraction for tourists.
Adolfo Marciano, the headteacher of the art school, has defended the statue saying it was a “tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy”.
He also explained that the town's mayor asked the students to create several statues, including one with a sea-like theme.
He told the Guardian: "The students got together and came up with the idea of a mermaid.
“The council was shown the scale model and said it was good, and then decided the completed sculpture would be placed in the square.”
Marciano said the work should be viewed “as a representation of reality, in this case of the female body”.
He added: “You see adverts on television with models who are very thin, but the mermaid is like a tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy, especially in our country. It would have been very bad if we had represented a woman who was extremely skinny.”
Local resident Beppe said the statue has caused a stir as not everyone likes it.
He said: "It’s a shame as the art students deserve to be praised instead of criticised."
