Rome Covers Up Nude Statues

Offense, annoyance, and accusations of “cultural submission” rippled across Italy after naked Roman statues were covered up during a state visit to the Capitoline Museums by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “Plywood boxes and panels were placed around the objects to obscure them from the Iranian president’s vision, or at least in photo-ops,” Ishaan Tharoor reported Tuesday. “Rome’s nude statues covered to spare Rouhani’s blushes,” read one headline chronicling the incident. The backlash gathered on social media where many Italians used the hashtag #statuenude to tweet pictures of nude statues. One representative remark: “When in #Rome, do as the #Persian do.”

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