IF one is sexually stimulated by Michelangelo's 'David' or any other classical art you should seek professional help as soon as possible because there definitely is something wrong with you. This whole episode reminds me of Attorney General john ashcroft hanging curtains in the Great Hall of the Justice Department in 2002 because the Spirit of Justice statue is a woman with one breast exposed and the Majesty of the Law statue is a man with his midsection covered with a cloth. While in D.C. one day viewing the cherry blossoms with my sister, brother-in-law and their kindergarten aged son Alex we walked across Memorial Bridge. Alex noticed the Sacrifice statue of a man on horseback holding a child with a bare chested woman shielding them with her body at the D.C. end of the bridge, pointed it out to us and said "Better hope john ashcroft doesn't see this!" Kindergarten Alex had a more mature attitude about art than the perverted prudes on the board of the tallahassee classical school. I feel sorry for the kids at that school and hope they start therapy soon. This from HuffPost followed by a brilliant opinion piece on this ridiculous controversy from the Washington Post
The principal of Florida’s Tallahassee Classical School is out of a job after parents complained that their sixth-grade children were shown Michelangelo’s 16th century “David” sculpture, with one parent calling it “pornographic,” the Tallahassee Democrat first reported.
The now-former principal, Hope Carrasquilla, told HuffPost the situation was also “a little more complicated than that,” noting that the usual protocol is to send parents a letter before students are shown such classical artwork.
Due to “a series of miscommunications,” the letter did not go out to the sixth-grade parents, and some complained, Carrasquilla said.
One parent was “point-blank upset,” Carrasquilla continued, and “felt her child should not be viewing those pieces.”
The board of the charter school decided Monday to give the principal the choice to resign or be fired after less than a year in the job. She was the school’s third principal since it opened in the fall of 2020, per the Tallahassee Democrat.
The move comes as conservatives in Florida and elsewhere battle to step up their input in primary education.
Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of the Biblical figure David was crafted between 1501 and 1504, originally commissioned for an Italian cathedral. It now resides at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence.
Carrasquilla said she had taught in classical education for a decade and knew that “once in a while you get a parent who gets upset about Renaissance art” — hence the letter. She was not surprised by the reaction from the school board chair, Barney Bishop, but the fact that other board members went along with him was unexpected.
In a call with HuffPost, Bishop emphasized that the nude sculpture incident was one of multiple issues with Carrasquilla. He declined to go into specifics, citing advice from the school’s employment lawyers.
Bishop explained he was lobbying for legislation that would give parents even more input in primary education.
“Parental rights trump everything else,” Bishop said. He added that the pandemic’s remote teaching gave parents a clearer window into their children’s education and prompted some to choose schools like Tallahassee Classical.
“They didn’t like the woke indoctrination that was going on,” he said.
Bishop accused Carrasquilla of trying to “gin up a lot of publicity” by sharing her experience.
Carrasquilla said many other parents and faculty members were upset about her ouster and have been reaching out with support.
The Tallahassee school is a public charter institution that focuses on classical learning, a teaching philosophy centered on a traditional Western liberal arts education that aims to impart critical thinking skills children can use throughout their lives. Classical learning is also popular within the Christian homeschooling movement.
The Tallahassee Classical School is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian institution that has sought to expand its influence over the last decade by helping set up public charter schools. Hillsdale briefly cut ties with the Tallahassee school in early 2022 for not meeting improvement standards, but it later regained affiliation.
Hillsdale has raised funds for the charter school network by pledging to fight “leftist” and “distorted” teaching of American history, such as the lessons about slavery contained in The New York Times’ 1619 Project, the newspaper reported last year.
“We don’t use pronouns,” Bishop said. “We don’t teach CRT and we don’t ever mention 1619 — those are not appropriate subjects for our kids.”
Clarification: This story has been amended to clarify that the statue of David was not commissioned for the inside of the cathedral.
Parents, be warned! There will be art in this art class!
Dear Parents,
Just wanted to let you know that in this art class, we’re going to be showing the students some art. Will that be okay? You signed up for a classical education, in theory — at least, that word is in the name of our school! — so I had sort of hoped it would be!
Here is all the art we might be showing your children, with reasons you might object. Please let us know if you object!
Venus of Willendorf: This 25,000-plus-year-old terra cotta sculpture of a female form is not wearing a bra. Please advise.
Sphinx: This has two strikes against it. It is a human-animal hybrid, and it is not wearing pants. Please advise if this is the kind of thing we are allowed to show students.
Venus De Milo: Is this acceptable? At least students will not be able to see any bare, exposed arms.
Winged Victory of Samothrace: No arms and, even better, no tempting face!
Bust of Nefertiti: We know this says “bust” in the name, but the depiction stops at the neck.
Mona Lisa: We understand that any depiction of a woman smiling could be problematic; there has been a lot of work done in this state to prevent women from being happy. But she could be smiling sadly! Maybe she’s smiling at a man! Maybe she’s smiling because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just told her to smile!
Sistine Chapel ceiling: Another work by Michelangelo, who was perhaps too good at drawing the muscular male form. In the pro column, it was commissioned by a pope. As you know, the pope’s whole job is to be religious! If this is not acceptable, we can show students the floor.
Monet: We assume the whole impressionist movement will be okay because all the pictures are very blurry, but please speak up if that assumption is wrong! There are some pictures of water lilies where you would be able to see a stamen and pistil in almost any other style of art, but, fortunately, that isn’t possible here.
Seurat, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”: We realize this may be problematic as it depicts people spending a Sunday afternoon not in church, but if you zoom in closely enough, it’s not actually people at all, just a bunch of dots!
Piet Mondrian, “Composition With Red, Blue, and Yellow”: We know, we know: What’s wrong with the good old Red, White and Blue? What’s this Piet trying to push on us? If this is a problem, we can instead show the students a picture of a flag.
Eugène Delacroix, “Liberty Leading the People”: Two strikes against this one — a visible nipple and a positive depiction of Liberty. We assume this will have to go.
Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Marat”: Pro: shows a revolutionary who has met a terrible fate, justly punished for daring to question the wisdom of the state! Con: He is not wearing pants.
Various Picassos: These look nothing like a human body, but we can’t be too careful!
Stick Figures: Has it been officially established whether stick figures are clad? We can hold off until further notice.
“The Thinker” statue by Auguste Rodin: Depiction of someone doing a discouraged activity. We assume this one has to go.
Marcel Duchamp, “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2”: We know it says “nude” in the name, but look at it! It’s just a bunch of squares! This has to be okay, right?
Pop Art: Okay to show students Andy Warhol’s cans?
Georgia O’Keeffe: No.
To avoid any other controversy, the rest of the class is just going to be pictures of “The Scream” (Edvard Munch), over and over!
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