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| Florida principal who lost job over ‘pornographic’ David statue visits Italy | Florida principal who lost job over ‘pornographic’ David statue visits Italy |
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| Hope Carrasquilla, forced to resign after parents condemned Michelangelo’s statue as pornography, invited to Florence | Hope Carrasquilla, forced to resign after parents condemned Michelangelo’s statue as pornography, invited to Florence |
| A Florida principal who resigned after parents at her school decried Michelangelo’s David statue as pornography has traveled to Florence, Italy, following invitations from the museum director and mayor of Florence. | A Florida principal who resigned after parents at her school decried Michelangelo’s David statue as pornography has traveled to Florence, Italy, following invitations from the museum director and mayor of Florence. |
| Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of Florida’s Tallahassee Classical school, touched down in Florence on Friday and visited the Galleria dell’Accademia with her family where the David statue resides. | |
| Carrasquilla’s visit follows her resignation in March after parents at the Christian charter school complained about their children being shown the 16th-century Renaissance statue of the biblical figure in class. | |
| One of the school’s parents condemned the statue of David as “pornographic”. A parent also said that she “felt her child should not be viewing those pieces”, and said that she was “point-blank upset”, Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat at the time of the incident. | |
| Carrasquilla told HuffPost that the school’s usual protocol is to notify parents by letter when students are to be shown “potentially controversial” classical artwork. However, as a result of a “series of miscommunications”, the letter was not sent out to the sixth-graders’ parents before they were shown the David sculpture. | Carrasquilla told HuffPost that the school’s usual protocol is to notify parents by letter when students are to be shown “potentially controversial” classical artwork. However, as a result of a “series of miscommunications”, the letter was not sent out to the sixth-graders’ parents before they were shown the David sculpture. |
| Her resignation came after the campus’s governing board informed her to either step down or be fired. | Her resignation came after the campus’s governing board informed her to either step down or be fired. |
| Tallahassee Classical school is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a Michigan-based private conservative Christian institution. According to its website, the school aims to “train the minds and improve the hearts of young people through a content-rich classical education in the liberal arts and sciences, with instruction in the principles of moral character and civic virtue”. | Tallahassee Classical school is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a Michigan-based private conservative Christian institution. According to its website, the school aims to “train the minds and improve the hearts of young people through a content-rich classical education in the liberal arts and sciences, with instruction in the principles of moral character and civic virtue”. |
| After media reports emerged of Carrasquilla’s resignation, the mayor of Florence pushed back against the outcry towards Carrasquilla. | After media reports emerged of Carrasquilla’s resignation, the mayor of Florence pushed back against the outcry towards Carrasquilla. |
| “Mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous … I will personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her recognition on behalf of the city. Art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect,” wrote mayor Dario Nardella. | |
| Cecilie Hollberg, the director of Galleria dell’Accademia, echoed similar sentiments, telling the Associated Press: “To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding western culture and not understanding Renaissance art.” | |
| Hollberg, who was photographed standing alongside Carrasquilla on Friday as they admired the statue, told USA Today that hosting the former principal was an “immense pleasure”. | Hollberg, who was photographed standing alongside Carrasquilla on Friday as they admired the statue, told USA Today that hosting the former principal was an “immense pleasure”. |
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| “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 … It’s a masterpiece, it represents a religious symbol of purity and innocence, the victory of good over evil,” she said. | |
| “I am sure that Mrs Carrasquilla will find here, in Florence, the welcome and the solidarity that she deserves,’’ she added. | “I am sure that Mrs Carrasquilla will find here, in Florence, the welcome and the solidarity that she deserves,’’ she added. |
| Carrasquilla’s 17-year old son, Quinn, who had to stay behind in Tallahassee due to his Advanced Placement exams, told USA Today that his family was enjoying their visit. | |
| “They’re really enjoying it a lot, who wouldn’t enjoy Italy?” he said. | “They’re really enjoying it a lot, who wouldn’t enjoy Italy?” he said. |