The Vatican’s Fig Leaf Campaign

In1563, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Council of Trent</a> launched the ‘<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_leaf" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Fig Leaf Campaign</a>’ to camouflage the penises and public hair visible in art across Italy. The cover-up choice was a ‘Fig Leaf’. The fig leaf campaign became a significant art censorship movement in the medieval period. The fig leaves were synonymous with sin, sex, and censorship. <h1>Why the fig leaf campaign</h1> Until the 1400s, Romans were traditionally inspired by Greek art. The ancient marble sculptures were chiseled with a nude body and that represented honor and virtue. The naked idols symbolized purity. But in the 1500s, the acts of art censorship began when the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation#:~:text=The%20Counter-Reformation%20(Latin%3A,response%20to%20the%20Protestant%20Reformation." rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Counter-Reformation</a> took over the Vatican and started portraying nudity as immodest and obscene. In an effort to counter Protestantism’s growing popularity, Catholic leaders spread the message that: <a href="https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/vaticans-fig-leaf-campaign-ac86884b87a9">Read More</a>