The iconic David by Michelangelo has a new controversy: getting rejected as a subway ad due to alleged ‘nudity’ in Scotland.
The advertisement in question was for the Barolo Restaurant, located in the city center of Glasgow, Scotland. The ad depicts David eating a pizza slice and saying the restaurant’s tagline: “It doesn’t get more Italian”. The advertisement was created by the marketing firm DRG Group.
The group said that when the ad was first submitted to be displayed at the subway, the authority that managed the advertising space in the Glasgow subway rejected it. Despite the first draft already cropped and slightly censored the statue’s image, the firm claimed that the stickers weren’t ‘big enough’. The final, approved version entirely cropped the image from below the waist.
Mario Gizzi (director, DRG Group) admitted his bemusement at the firm’s reaction: “It is taught in schools. People from all over the world travel to see it. It’s not the 1500s anymore, it’s 2023. Are we really saying that the people of Glasgow can’t handle seeing a naked statue?”
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This is not the first time David by Michelangelo, located in Florence, Italy, has come under hot water. The sculpture, considered one of the greatest works of art in history, became the center of a culture war in America just a few weeks ago. The issue erupted after Hope Carrasquilla, principal at the Tallahassee Classical School in Florida, showed sixth-grade kids an image of David. Following complaints from a few parents, she was forced to resign from her position. Since then, it has devolved into a raging battle around freedom of expression and protection of innocence.
