Art or pornography? Michelangelo's David has been controversial since the beginning. Here's how

On Sept. 8, 1504, Michelangelo’s towering marble statue of David was unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy. The 17-foot-tall, 12,000-pound statue carved from a single block of white Italian Carrara marble has been considered a masterpiece of High Renaissance art ever since, and a topic of controversy for nearly as long.

The statue depicts David, hero of the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible who slew Goliath and went on to become a king. Most depictions of David in paintings and sculptures to that point showed him as a boy facing or standing over the fallen giant, but the 26-year-old Michelangelo depicted him as a muscular nude man, alone and defiant, before the fight. The sculpture is a symbol of the strength and independence of the Florentines, according to the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, the museum which displays it, and it has become of the world's most recognizable and treasured works of art.

The statue also has been challenged throughout its history for its unabashed nudity, especially when copies are displayed in different cities or reproductions or photos are displayed in public. Even when it was unveiled, while he praised it as a masterwork, Leonardo da Vinci suggested it be given a loin cloth.

Most recently "David" was called out by parents at a Florida charter school. The principal at Tallahassee Classical School in Leon County resigned after three parents complained that the required Renaissance art class, which included "David" as well as the "Creation of Adam" fresco painting and Boticelli's "Birth of Venus," upset their children. Two said they wished they'd been informed beforehand, and one parent called the lesson pornographic.

'Parental rights are supreme':Tallahassee principal ousted after complaints about Michelangelo's 'David' in art lesson

There are copies of "David" all over the world, including a cast-bronze replica in the courtyard of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota where it became the focus of the official seal of the city.

Here are some other notable controversies in the life of "David."

Michelangelo's 'David' has been political from the start

When "David" was put outside Florence's government offices in the Palazzo Della Signoria it was seen as a defiant sign against the powerful Medici family, who had been exiled from Florence a decade previously. It was said the statue's glare was intentionally aimed at Rome.

Protestors attacked it with rocks the year it debuted, and in 1527 an anti-Medici riot resulted in David's arm getting broken in three pieces.

Michelangelo's 'David' was immediately covered up

When the statue was first installed in the Piazza della Signoria, authorities placed a garland of 28 copper leaves around his waist to cover his nakedness, which remained there until they were quietly removed around 1550.

But the Catholic Church cracked down on nudity in art as immoral and several powerful figures in the Vatican weren't happy with the nudity Michelangelo displayed on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Church issued an edict in 1953 demanding that “figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting…lust.” Loincloths and fig leaves were added to statues and artworks across Italy.

When the statue was moved to the Galleria dell' Accademia and replaced in the piazza with a copy, there was a raging debate over whether the copy also should get a fig leaf. Ultimately, it was decided to leave him the way Michelangelo intended him.

After shocking Queen Victoria, England's replica of 'David' received a detachable fig leaf

There are about 30 full-size replicas around the world, all created by permission from the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze. The first one was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where the original David statue was originally before being moved inside.

But the one sent to Queen Victoria as a gift from the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1857 got a last-minute addition. She was reportedly horrified by the statue's nudity and a detachable fig leaf made out of plaster was added to preserve David's modesty before it went on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The leaf was kept in readiness in case of a royal; visit.

Chinese TV blurred him out

During a program on an art festival in Beijing where "David" was one of 67 masterpieces on display in Beijing as part of the 100th anniversary of the National Museum of China, state-run China Central TV blurred the statue's genitals. Outrage over this spread and the TVB station removed the blur for its evening show.

'David' has been forcibly clothed around the world

• A copy was installed at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California, in 1939 with a fig leaf in place. It was removed in 1969 and the 'David' remained nude. There were three replicas there for years until the newest one was taken out by an earthquake in 1987.

• In 1995, the city of Jerusalem initially refused the offer of a 'David' replica from Florence. After negotiations, the city accepted a different, clothed statue — "David," by Verrocchio — instead.

• A local woman in St. Petersburg, Russia, called a plastic replica of "David" that was part of a "Michelangelo. World Creation" exhibition a bad influence on students at a nearby school and called for it to be covered up. "This giant spoils the city's historic appearance and warps children's souls," she wrote in a letter to the children's rights ombudsman. The organization responded with a "Dress David" campaign to invite people to come up with new couture for the hero and a vote to decide what, if anything , they would put on the statue.

• Pope Benedict XVI issued a statement in 2011 calling for 'David" to be covered to protect the innocence of visitors, although the edict did end with a message of hope and encouragement for everyone to enjoy a "Happy April Fools Day."

The Simpsons covered the 'David' controversy

In Season 2 of "The Simpsons," episode 9, "Itchy & Scratchy," the show took on the problems of violent children's television, nudity in art, and the problems when a few concerned parents try to make decisions for everybody.

In it, the Simpsons baby Maggie brains her father. Homer, with a mallet after seeing a cat and mouse attack each other on a popular cartoon show. Her mother Marge unites with other concerned mothers to form a protest group, S.N.U.H: Springfieldians for Nonviolence, Understanding and Helping. The group manages to intimidate the animation studio into making the carton safe, and utterly bland. Children across the city. bored now, go outside and play instead.

But S.N.U.H. (without Marge) also protests the display of Michelangelo's "David" at the Springfield Museum and Marge is forced to admit that she can't object to censoring one work of art while trying to censor another.

Helen: Get dressed, Marge. You've got to lead our protest against this abomination! (shows Marge a newspaper with the statue of David on the cover)Marge: Hmm, but that's Michelangelo's David. It's a masterpiece!Helen: (gasps) It's filth! It graphically portrays parts of the human body which, practical as they may be, are evil.Marge: But I like that statue.Maude: I told you she was soft on full-frontal nudity.

The show, one of the run's most popular, helped set the tone for the long-running series by taking the different concerns seriously and showing the humor from all sides.

A doctor from Indiana diagnosed 'David's' bulging neck vein

During a visit to Florence in 2018, Dr. Daniel Gelfman, a Marian University cardiologist, noticed a bulging vein on the right side of the hero’s neck, usually a sign of heart disease.

“It struck me as odd, very paradoxical. You wouldn’t expect to see that,” Gelfman said. “There are certain clues that you can pick up on physical exam that tells you that someone has heart disease and one of those clues is jugular venous distension. As a cardiologist, when I saw that, it was very dramatic to me. It really stuck out.”

Gelfman wrote an article for JAMA Cardiology where he discussed it, and the usefulness for medical students to study artworks to improve their diagnostic skills. Later he said he realized Michelangelo was depicting David in a state of excitement when some people's jugular veins temporarily distends, just as other people flush when they’re emotional. The artist may have even realized this long before medical experts did, Gelfman said.

3D replica of Michelangelo's "David" in Dubai displayed from the neck up

In a world's fair in Dubai in 2021, controversy broke out when a 3D replica of "David" was displayed in all its glory, sort of. The statue was placed in a tall octagonal shaft between floors and most visitors to Dubai's Expo 2020 could only see David's head, with the rest hidden behind a partition. Only VIPs with special access were permitted to see it from head to toe.

"What the rich, the great and the good can see and what the ordinary folk can see shouldn't be two different things," said Professor Paul Gwynne, who teaches medieval and renaissance studies at the American University of Rome.

C. A. Bridges is a Digital Producer for the USA TODAY Network, working with multiple newsrooms across Florida. Local journalists work hard to keep you informed about the things you care about, and you can support them by subscribing to your local news organization. Read more articles by Chris here and follow him on Twitter at @cabridges

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Michelangelo's 'David': Long history of controversies, now in Florida