The Fig Leaf Campaign: The Genesis of Art Censorship

Feature image: Giovanni di Paolo, The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, 1445, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art via Artsy

The rise of the Protestant Movement, led by Martin Luther and John Calvin circa the early 16th century in Germany, challenged the Roman Catholic Church’s inequitable laws and customs. The movement caught fire and spread throughout Europe, later developing into Protestantism. The Church’s immediate response was to enact a Counter-Reformation, a renewal period aimed at strengthening a religious life and condemning Protestants with the Council of Trent. Charles Borromeo and Pope Pius IV were influential leaders during the Catholic Revival. 

This movement also encouraged an artistic awakening that brought forth Baroque art. As the Church commissioned artists to create religious artwork to decorate the walls of the churches, exquisite painters like Michelangelo and Raphael gained notoriety. 

In 1506, Michelangelo unveiled his Medici-commissioned statue, David, before the Palazzo della Signoria entrance. David was initially meant to be a series of the 12 prophets displayed on the Florence Cathedral’s roof. The project’s marble source was destroyed in an accident, leaving David alone. After the statue was revealed to the public, the Church expressed issues with David's explicit details. A gilded loin garland was placed on his lower body within its debut year.

Although the Vatican quickly concealed Michaelangelo’s incredible talent, the organization continued hiring him for commission work—the Sistine Chapel ceilings featuring The Last Judgement and The Creation of Adam, both featuring naked men. Michelangelo’s eternal impact on High Renaissance art is too prolific to censor, even if you are the Pope.

The Roman Catholic Church is historically conservative, with strict rules and regulations. To keep the Protestant Movement under control, the Church needed to enact harsher doctrines and rules on its people. Art was no exception. For the Church to crack down on rebels and radical beliefs, the Pope needed to evaluate existing artwork in surrounding cities.

In the 1560s, the Catholic Church issued a decree stating art “figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting…lust.” The Protestant Movement's rising tension and rebellions led the Church to issue this constraining law. 

Soon after authorities enacted this new regulation, the Church commissioned artists to remove the phalluses from statues and sculptures and replace the area with a metal fig leaf. Going forward, artists were legally required to not visually display a naked man or woman unless they had some form of privacy covering. This is why some art still has a loin covering or fig leaf—this is the art’s original state.

Despite the fact that the Church did not want such details publicly displayed, the Pope still recognized the gravity and cultural significance of this ancient art and its importance to history. So, after carefully removing the phalluses, the Church safely retrieved and stored all the private parts, presumably in the depths of the Vatican. This curious choice landed in art history’s favor when, centuries later, the Church and museums began restoring the victims of the Fig Leaf Campaign to their original, naked state. Leaders of the campaign, Cardinal Carafa and Monsignor Sernini, the Ambassador of Mantua, sought to conceal all naked bodies depicted in art, emphasizing the shame surrounding nudity that Roman Catholicism promotes. 

During this censorship period, artists like Daniele da Volterra—unfortunately known as the “underclothes painter”—commissioned the metal fig leaf additions to transform the statues into modest figures. As a testament to this cruel decree, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London showcases an authentic metal fig leaf specifically crafted for when the Queen visited the Museum. Now, the leaf is displayed next to a replica of David.

So, why create statues and sculptures with naked bodies if it was shameful to exhibit such explicities? 

Well, the naked body was not always the epitome of humiliation. Ancient Greek art and culture worshipped human anatomy and embraced nakedness. This normalcy carried to Rome under the Roman Empire but did not last long when the country converted to Christianity—in the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit landed them a deep shame for their naked bodies. 

Of all the possible coverings, why were fig leaves chosen to cover genitalia?

One assumption relates to religion. In the Bible, after eating the forbidden fruit and gaining a new sense of shame, Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves into an apron to cover their naked bodies. Other assumptions are geared towards Italy and its culture. According to Rome’s origin story, the founders, Romulus and Remus, supposedly arrived in a basket resting underneath a fig tree. Italy also has an incredible abundance of fig trees, and the fruit remains an integral part of Italian culture. 

Restoring Fig Leaf Campaign victims is a strenuous process. Over the last 200 years, censored art has slowly regained its original integrity. 

This fresco depicts Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden after eating from the forbidden fruit tree. In a state of humiliation, the characters are seen distraught and naked, fleeing from the Garden. Ironically, Masaccio initially painted Adam and Eve fully naked. Two modesty garlands were painted on their genitalia in 1680 because of the Church’s decree. Exactly 200 years later, Masaccio’s fresco was restored to its original unclad state. 

After revealing the 17-foot-tall, almost 13,000-pound marble statue, the Church was not thrilled with Michelangelo’s attention to certain details. A loin garland was placed upon David’s phallus within the same year. Around 1912, the metal fig leaf was removed. Since then, museums with David replicas have removed the loin covering over time, displaying Michelangelo’s true design.

Unfortunately for Michelangelo, he did not conform to the Church’s artistically constraining decree and withstood by painting naked figures on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. While painting “The Last Judgement,” the Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, noticed several naked bodies on the ceiling. Da Cesena expressed his discontent with Michelangelo’s work, saying the painting would fit best in a tavern. With vengeance and the power of a paintbrush, Michelangelo painted da Cesena’s portrait on a naked body in Hell. To make matters worse, Michelangelo added donkey ears to da Cesena’s portrait for an added touch of humiliation. Before declaring the ceiling finish, the Renaissance painter added a serpent to cover the figure's genitalia. 

While nudity in art is not damned as harshly as it was in the 1500s, art censorship still remains a dire issue in the 21st century. The freedom to create and self-express is one that artists heavily rely upon, specifically in America. However, just last year, in 2023, David was once again at the center of art censorship and public nudity. Banning books and music is an ongoing issue that opens an entirely new conversation surrounding the First Amendment and creative freedom. 

The Fig Leaf Campaign is more than a story about the Vatican shaming the naked body and storing away marble phalluses. It is one of the first instances of expurgation that artists endured and continue to face. It is the genesis of religious authorities controlling an entire society on a singular belief system. Humans without art is an impossible concept. The suppression of creativity that the Fig Leaf Campaign sought is something future generations must actively fight against to protect the integrity of art and human history. 

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