'Curvy' mermaid statue in village sparks outrage for being 'too ugly and vulgar'
![This mermaid statue has caused controversy in a Southern Italian town (Image: Monopoli Times)](/upload/news/2023/04/29/45344.jpg)
The curvy statue of a mermaid in the square of a fishing village has been criticised for being "very vulgar".
Students at the Luigi Rossi art school in Monopoli in Puglia, Italy created the statue before it was placed in a town square.
It has since been ridiculed on social media as many say they are "perplexed" by its design.
One wrote on Facebook: "Very ugly and vulgar, seeing that the only known little mermaid (Amsterdam) doesn’t have hair but only the fin - It’s a shame it could have been more graceful."
Another wrote:" A sickening image of a woman."
![Nursery apologises after child with Down's syndrome ‘treated less favourably’ qhiddkiqeiqqdinv](/upload/news/2023/02/01/25_m.jpg)
!['Curvy' mermaid statue in village sparks outrage for being 'too ugly and vulgar'](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article29848121.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_2.jpg)
The statue is of a giant mermaid with a long fin that curves around its body. It has long hair and an exposed back, showing two round butt cheeks. It also includes a pair of large breasts with its arms folded across, images published in the Monopoli Times show.
Bari-based actor Tiziana Schiavarelli wrote on Facebook that a friend in Monopoli had “rightly expressed some perplexity about this ‘monument’”.
She wrote: "It looks like a mermaid with two silicone breasts and, above all, a huge arse never seen before on a mermaid. At least not any I know.”
Schiavarelli wrote she didn't have an issue with the art students or the council that commissioned the work.
!['Curvy' mermaid statue in village sparks outrage for being 'too ugly and vulgar'](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article29848118.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_3.jpg)
She added that she did not have an issue with the art students or the local council that commissioned the statue.
She wrote: "But I am very amused by this thing … who knows if it will become a further attraction for tourists.
Adolfo Marciano, the headteacher of the art school, has defended the statue saying it was a “tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy”.
He also explained that the town's mayor asked the students to create several statues, including one with a sea-like theme.
He told the Guardian: "The students got together and came up with the idea of a mermaid.
“The council was shown the scale model and said it was good, and then decided the completed sculpture would be placed in the square.”
![Striking teacher forced to take a second job to pay bills ahead of mass walkout](/upload/news/2023/02/01/56_m.jpg)
Marciano said the work should be viewed “as a representation of reality, in this case of the female body”.
He added: “You see adverts on television with models who are very thin, but the mermaid is like a tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy, especially in our country. It would have been very bad if we had represented a woman who was extremely skinny.”
Local resident Beppe said the statue has caused a stir as not everyone likes it.
He said: "It’s a shame as the art students deserve to be praised instead of criticised."
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