There once was an Italian art gallery whose owners loved nothing better than to display a famous statue of a person wearing no clothes at all. Throughout each day, the statue portraying David standing naked was viewed by throngs of people, and it was explained that when he went to fight Goliath, David went with nothing but his faith and a sling. Many statues are made to honor great men who have fixed problems in the land. Not this one! It was made to attract tourists from all over the world to view a naked body and praise it as a great work of art.
The only problem was that occasionally people thought it was pornographic! What with his clothes nowhere to be seen and everything else completely to be seen!
One day, two advertising officers came to town. They said they were experts in public relations. They said they would convince more people the statue was simply a work of art. But in fact, they were not only public relations officers – they were deceivers.
These fake weavers of supposed truth said they would advertise the statue as being more beautiful than any other statue in history. BUT it could not be seen that way by just anyone. Only people who were smart and the most excellent would actually understand it was just art, and not pornography. People who were not smart and not excellent – well, they would walk away wondering if it was just an expensive piece of pornography.
Soon, word reached the gallery owners about these two weavers of falsehood and their fine way of presenting the statue. The owners thought, "We are most smart to own such an excellent statue! Anyone can tell by how grand and naked it always looks! We do not need to worry about silly clothes. Clothes only hide the magnificence of the body."
So the gallery owners went to see the two weavers of falsehood. These clever deceivers ran about their office, pointing at other naked works of art. They said with pride, “Look at these fine pictures! Surely you have never seen pictures and statutes so bright, naked and wonderful as these! Aren't they beautiful!” The gallery owners were excited – there was not to be seen clothes on any of them!
The gallery owners thought, “We cannot let anyone discover that this is pornography! Who knows what they would think of the statue then!” So they agreed with the advertising agents. “Indeed! These works of art showing naked people are magnificent -- and in our gallery we have the most beautiful work of art anyone has ever seen!”
As it turns out, the gallery had been closed for remodeling and was about to reopen. This would be a special day in which tourists from all over the world would return and again line up to admire the statue and cheer him as he stood naked in the hall. For the reopening, the gallery owners wanted to increase the advertising announcing how great the statue was so no one would dare call it pornographic. Only a weaver of falsehood could help them with this.
Yet there was very little time. Could they advertise enough before the grand reopening? The two advertising agents frowned, as if they could not be sure. Then they smiled and said yes, they could advertise so much that everyone would surely want to come to Italy to see the naked statue unveiled again. But it would cost much extra money for the public to be persuaded in time.
The gallery owners paid it all. The two deceivers held the money tight to their chests. They produced a wave of new advertising. They bought new ads not only in the larger tourist magazines, but also in the small ones. That way everyone would say, “Look at these great pictures of the statue of David! It is a magnificent work of art that should always be admired and never be considered pornographic!"
On the morning of the grand reopening, the owners of the statue came to the advertisers' office and thanked them for all they had done. They felt sure that with this great amount of new advertising, no one would ever again see the statue as anything but a great work of art.
When it was time for the statue to be unveiled again, the gallery owners threw back the veil as they thought to themselves, “This is so magnificent a display that no one can ever call it pornographic. No one will dare suggest it is wrong for him to be wearing nothing at all.” And indeed, that is how it seemed!
The gallery owners brought in mirrors so the public could examine every ripple of the statue's magnificent muscles. He really must be art to have been carved so well. Surely, it should be clear that to put clothes on him would only ruin the work.
At the unveiling, the statue stood tall and proud. Each person who saw him standing there thought, “I cannot believe what I am seeing! The statue wears no clothes!” But each person said nothing, preferring instead to simply enjoy it. They knew that only people who were smart and excellent could enjoy such a work of art without thinking it pornographic. So instead they cheered, “There stands the statue of David! Doesn’t he look fine!”
All of a sudden, one little boy from a grade school in Florida called out, “Look! The statue has no clothes!” Everyone gasped. Then another child called out, “Look at him! He has nothing on at all!”
Then someone gasped. And someone else. Then more and more people started to gasp. Someone said aloud, “Would you look at that? The statue has no clothes!” Soon, everyone was calling out and gasping.
“Oh dear!” thought the owners of the statue. “Now everyone knows it is pornographic! They will know we decided to call it art just to convince them to adore it. What will they think of it now?”
But the show had to go on, so the statue continued to stand. And the Accademia Gallery of Florence continued to insist the statue wasn't pornographic at all.
(Index -- Stories, My stories)
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