Tsuktiben Jamir
The figure is fluid and dynamic; it is realistic in every sense of the word. He has positioned himself to face his opponent; David is focused and self-assured. He is preparing himself internally to take on a giant. Even his gaze is fixed on the distance rather than the audience. The veins in David’s right hand and forearm are visible when you look toward the back or right flank. He’s anxious. Why? Because he is fiddling with the stone he will hold in his sling in that hand. He’s reflective and tense, while also elegant and confident; and the sculpture reflects it in every inch. Such is the magnificence of Michelangelo’s David which was sculpted during the great Renaissance era; it took Michelangelo four years to complete the sculpture in 1504.
Well, in a controversial turn of events, the Principal of Tallahassee Classical School in Leon County, Florida, Hope Carrasquilla was forced to resign from her post by the board members of the school amidst complaints received from parents of the sixth-grade students. The complaints emerged from the showing of Michelangelo’s sculpture of David during a course on Renaissance to the sixth graders. The 5.17m (17ft) iconic statue of David is considered a great piece of art and depicts a nude David, the biblical character who killed the enormous Goliath. Some parents of the students did not take this so well, one of them even characterising it as “pornographic.”
Courtesy: LinkedIn / Hope Carrasquilla
After being asked to resign or face the consequence of being fired by the governing board of the school, Hope Carrasquilla resigned from her position as principal of the Tallahassee Classical School. She was not told why she was asked to leave, but she assumed it had something to do with the complaints about the art lesson.
In an interview with Slate, a school board chair of the Tallahassee Classical School, Barney Bishop III said, “We’re a classical school. Why wouldn’t we show Renaissance art to children?” following it up with “98 percent of the parents didn’t have a problem with it. But that doesn’t matter, because we didn’t follow a practice. We have a practice. Last year, the school sent out an advance notice about it. Parents should know: In class, students are going to see or hear or talk about this. This year, we didn’t send out that notice. This year, we made an egregious mistake.”
The Tallahassee Classical School uses the Hillsdale College curriculum, which mandates that sixth-graders learn about Renaissance art. The school had recently lost its affiliation with Hillsdale College because it did not satisfy the requirements for improvement, but it was able to restore curricular status.
Barney said in the same interview with Slate, “Well, we’re Florida, OK? Parents will decide. Parents are the ones who are going to drive the education system here in Florida. The governor said that, and we’re with the governor.” Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, appears to be on a censorship crusade, with schools serving as his primary target. He recently pushed to broaden a law that forbade the teaching of gender identity and sexual education in public schools. Teachers who break the law risk having their teaching credentials revoked or suspended.
