Curvy Mermaid Statue Lures Consternation In Southern Italian Fishing Village

A voluptuous mermaid statue has prompted a whirlpool of reactions in its new home in a fishing village in Puglia, southern Italy.

The sculpture, erected for Monopoli’s new Piazza Rita Levi-Montalcini, which is named after Nobel Prize-winning scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, has been criticized by locals as being “too provocative,” the Guardian reports.

“It looks like a mermaid with two silicone boobs… and above all, a huge a** never seen before on a mermaid. At least not any [mermaids] I know,” responded actor Tiziana Schiavarelli, who reposted photos published by the Monopoli Times on Facebook.

The curvy statue was created by students at the Luigi Rosso art school in Monopoli, who were tasked by the mayor to design a series of sculptures for the town, including one dedicated to victims of workplace accidents that will be presented on May 1.

Schiavarelli said she had nothing against the art students or the officials who commissioned the work, but pondered if their sculpture will be what tourists will come to the square for. 

Adolfo Marciano, the school’s art teacher, has defended the piece, asserting that the full-figured icon pays homage to curvy women, which he says make up “the great majority” of the country.

Marciano elaborates that the council was shown and, importantly, had approved of, a scale model before the installation was built.

The teacher cites the countless representations of “very thin” models in advertising for why the students hoped to bring a more realistic image—one that isn’t “extremely skinny”—to life.

The educator argues that the public should be fixating on the students’ other, more pressing statue on workplace losses instead. 

The mermaid work hasn’t been officially unveiled, but it’s certainly already causing a splash.

[via The Guardian and Sky News, images via various sources]