A US teacher who lost her job for sharing photographs of Michelangelo’s David has travelled to Florence to admire the statue.
Hope Carrasquilla was forced to resign as principal of Tallahassee Classical School in Florida after parents objected that they had not been informed that images of the naked figure would be shown to their 11 and 12-year-old children.
One parent called the work “pornographic”.
“Mistaking art for pornography is simply ridiculous,” Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, said at the time.
“I will personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her an award on behalf of the city. Art is civilisation and those who teach it deserve respect.”
Ms Carrasquilla and her family went to see the famous artwork on Friday at Florence’s Accademia Galleria.
She said she was impressed by the gallery, adding: “I think it’s beautiful. It looks like a church.
“The thing that impresses me the most is that this whole gallery was built for him.
“There is nothing wrong with the human body in and of itself,” she continued.
“Michelangelo would have done him wrong to sculpt him in any other way. I think it’s wonderful.”
Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Accademia Gallery, said hosting Ms Carrasquilla was an “immense pleasure”.
“I am happy to be able to welcome her and introduce her to the beauties of our museum, besides showing her the David, a sculpture that, I repeat as I have said, has nothing to do with pornography,”
Ms Hollberg said in a written statement. “It’s a masterpiece, it represents a religious symbol of purity and innocence, the victory of good over evil.”
Tallahassee Classical School is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a private conservative Christian institution in Michigan.
It aims to “train the minds and improve the hearts of young people through a content-rich classical education”.
The art lesson featuring David also included nudity in Michelangelo’s fresco The Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel ceiling and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
