David statue in Italy draws flood of tourists in wake of Florida uproar

Tourists take photos in front of Michelangelo’s “David” in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy, on Tuesday. The museum and the city’s mayor are inviting parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit and see the work after the school principal was forced to resign following parental complaints that an image of the nude Renaissance masterpiece was shown to a sixth-grade art class. (AP)

FLORENCE, Italy — Visitors flocked to see Michelangelo’s David sculpture in Florence on Tuesday, following an uproar over a Florida school’s decision to force the resignation of the principal over complaints about a lesson featuring the Renaissance masterpiece.

Tourists, many of them Americans on spring break or studying abroad, posed for selfies in front of the giant marble statue, which features the Biblical David, naked with a sling over his shoulder and a rock in his hand, ready for battle with Goliath.