ROME — The Florence museum that houses Michelangelo’s “David” has invited parents and students at a Florida school to visit it after the school’s principal had to resign due to parental complaints that a picture of the Renaissance masterpiece in a sixth grade art class.

The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, also invited the director to visit him. Confusing art with pornography is “ridiculous”, Nardella said.

The Italian response mirrors how America’s culture wars are often viewed in Europe, where despite the growth of the right and its governments, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, naked or not, are generally uncontroversial.

But the Tallahassee Classical School board forced principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after a picture of “David” was displayed in an art class. A school policy requires notice to parents when “controversial” subjects are taught.

Carrasquilla believes the council attacked her after three parents complained about a lesson showing a photo of the 17-foot-tall (5-meter) bare marble sculpture from 1504. The work, considered a masterpiece -Italian Renaissance artwork, shows the biblical David as he goes to face Goliath clad only in his faith in God.

Carrasquilla said two parents complained about not being told in advance that a nude would be shown, and a third said the work was pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a telephone interview on Sunday that she felt “very honored” by the invitations to Italy and could accept.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia, where the “David” is located, expressed her astonishment at the controversy in Florida.

“To think that ‘David’ might be pornographic really reveals a misunderstanding of the Bible, a misunderstanding of Western culture and a misunderstanding of Renaissance art,” Hollberg said in a phone interview.

He invited the principal, the school board, parents and the student body to see the “purity” of the statue.

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