An Australian Catholic boys school has covered up a statue of a saint giving bread to a boy after its design led some to label it “suggestive.”
Blackfriar’s Priory School, outside of Adelaide, put a black tarp over the statue of St. Martin de Porres, which soon became the subject of controversy after being unveiled last week.
The saint, a member of the Dominican religious order in late 1500s and early 1600s Peru known for social justice work, is depicted holding the loaf of bread close to his groin.
Questions about how the design was approved prompted the cover up and a statement from the school, which educates students from an early learning center through the 12th grade.
“The two-dimensional concept plans for the statue were viewed and approved by the Executive Team in May but upon arrival the three-dimensional statue was deemed by the Executive to be potentially suggestive. As a consequence, the statue was immediately covered and a local sculptor has been commissioned to re-design it,” Principal Simon Cobiac said.
“The School apologises for any concerns and publicity generated by this matter and is taking action to substantially alter the statue.”
Cobiac added that the statue was supposed to represent de Porres’ work “for the poor and downtrodden of the 16th Century.”
One Instagram user wrote: “Like who the hell designed, approved and erected it and no one thought about it?”
Other comments included: “surely this can’t be real” and “can’t believe this happened”.
“The controversy follows the school making headlines last week for one of its Year 12 students being behind a hoax letter telling his peers they would have to resit their biology exam.
The letter, circulated on Facebook with a SACE Board letterhead, falsely claimed that there had been a “significant breach in the integrity” of the exam sat by 3645 students across the state.
Mr Cobiac said at the time it was “very much out of character” for the ”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/blackfriars-priory-schools-new-statue-has-unsavoury-taste-causing-a-flurry-of-comments-on-social-media/news-story/9eafc78d4dd62508df49e8efe0e407f2
Personally I like the image. Perhaps it needs an explanation about why St Martin de Porres is a saint and what he did in his life..
When I see something like this statue Gillian, after I’ve gotten past the obvious juvenile phallic humour, my conspiracy neurons fire up and I wonder: Surely the designer, sculptor and client could hardly fail to see what was implied in the statue’s pose, so was it done deliberately?
If so, why?
Perhaps the statue is a mockup and this whole story is a hoax?
I know What MdP did to earn his sainthood (search engines are wonderful things!).