The former Florida principal visited Michelangelo’s “David” in Italy. But, some circumstances preceded this event. Hope Carrasquilla (the former Tallahassee principal) recently got fired, because she showed visualization of “David” to six-graders. The parents of these children did not respond well to her move. At the end, when she finally visited the sculpture in Italy, she was impressed.
The Former Florida Principal’s Comments On the Sculpture
On April 28, Hope Carrasquilla went to Florence’s Accademia Gallery. She visited the academy with her family – husband and two kids. When she received a call from the academy’s director Cecilie Hollberg, she was happy to respond to the invitation. When Hope finally saw the piece, she was amazed with its purity and setting.
“The thing that impresses me the most is that this whole gallery was built for him. I think it’s beautiful, it also looks like a church”, Carrasquilla said in a statement. “Michelangelo would have done him wrong to sculpt him in any other way. I think it’s wonderful”, she added. This director came to the position only at the beginning of 2023, but she still had to leave it early.
She received criticism for including nudity in the curriculum of the Tallahassee Classical School. Because of this and parents’ rage, she received an ultimatum from the board to leave the school. Some considered the sculpture pornographic and inappropriate for young children. Others couldn’t take the fact that nobody informed them there would be a change in the curriculum.
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“David has nothing to do with pornography” – Hollberg
Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture wasn’t the only new thing in the school’s curriculum. There were also Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. Both contain nudity. The reason for the dissatisfaction can be the background of the school itself. The school includes children from kindergarten to 10th grade, and children from conservative, Catholic families are mostly attending it.
The school is new, it opened in 2020. Since then, it changed three principals. The Florida Department of Education responded to the school’s action and said the sculpture has “artistic and historic value”. The director of the Accademia Gallery had a lot of discussion with Carrasquilla before the family arrived in Florence.
“I am delighted to personally introduce her to David, a sculpture that has nothing to do with pornography”, Hollberg said in a statement. “It is a masterpiece representing a religious symbol of purity and innocence, the triumph of good over evil”.
