The cultural fight over Michelangelo’s David

Michelangelo’s David is among the most famous pieces of Renaissance artwork and remains a well-known symbol of Italy. More than 1.4 million people visit the sculpture annually at Florence’s Accademia gallery, according to American University. However, David has become embroiled in several controversies over its depiction of a nude male — and now one of them has struck the streets of Florence itself. 

A recent report in The Associated Press describes how Italian cultural curators are becoming worried that the “marble statue’s religious and political significance is being diminished by the thousands of refrigerator magnets and other souvenirs sold around Florence.” Many of these souvenirs revolve around the sculpture’s visible genitalia, the AP said, and the city streets often feature “street vendors and souvenir shop operators hawking aprons of the statue’s nude figure, T-shirts of it engaged in obscene gestures, and ubiquitous figurines, often in Pop Art neon.”

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