Accademia tourists react to Michelangelo’s ‘David’ porn controversy in Florida

Tourists and staffers at Italy’s Galleria dell’Accademia museum scoffed at the idea that Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture is pornographic amid a controversy at a Florida charter school.

Hope Carrasquilla was pushed to resign as the principal of Tallahassee Classical School last week after multiple parents complained about the nude sculpture’s inclusion in a sixth-grade art class lesson.

“It’s one of the most incredible parts of our history,” Seattle resident Brian Stapley said outside the Florence museum Tuesday. “I feel incredibly sorry for the children that don’t get to see it.”

The Tallahassee Classical School requires educators to inform parents before teaching topics that are considered controversial. Following the lesson involving the “David,” one parent likened the 17-foot sculpture to pornography while two others said they wished they had been informed ahead of time, Carrasquilla said.

“We are talking about the roots of Western culture, and ‘David’ is the height, the height of beauty,” Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Accademia, said Tuesday.

On Sunday, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella invited Carrasquilla to visit the museum following her exodus, tweeting, “Mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous.” Carrasquilla said she is considering the offer.

Tallahassee Classical School students and teachers also received invitations to come see the “David,” which Michelangelo sculpted during the early 1500s.

“It’s part of history,” Isabele Joles, a tourist from Ohio, said Tuesday at the Accademia. “I don’t understand how you can say it’s porn.”

With News Wire Services