A mermaid statue installed in a market in a fishing village in Apulia, southern Italy, has caused an uproar because it is “too provocative”, reports Guardianwhile the director of the art school that created it says it’s “a tribute to the vast majority of women with uniforms.”

The statue was created by students at the Luigi Rosso School of Art in Monopoli before being placed in a square named after scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini.

The art, which has not yet been officially unveiled, became the subject of jokes after photos taken during the installation went viral on social media.

Actress Tiziana Schiavarelli wrote on Facebook that a Monopoly friend “fairly expressed some surprise at this ‘monument.’

“She looks like a mermaid with two silicone breasts and, above all, a huge booty that has never been seen on a mermaid before. At least as far as I know.”

Schiavarelli emphasized that he had no problems with the student artists or the local council that commissioned the work. “But this thing makes me very happy… who knows if it will become another tourist attraction,” she added.

The statue, “a tribute to the vast majority of women with uniforms”

Adolfo Marciano, director of the Luigi Rosso art school, defended the statue, saying it was “a tribute to the vast majority of women with uniforms”. He explained that the mayor of Monopoli had commissioned the students to create several statues for the city, including one on the theme of the sea.

“The students discussed and came up with the mermaid idea,” Marciano said. “They showed the council the model and said it was good, then they decided that the finished sculpture would be placed on the square.”

Marciano said he doesn’t want to judge the students’ inspiration, but he sees the work “as a reflection of reality, in this case the female body.”

He added: “You see ads on TV with very thin models, but the mermaid is like a tribute to the vast majority of curvy women, especially here. It would be very bad if we represented an extremely thin woman.”

Beppe, who lives in Monopoly, said the sculpture, which was hidden until its unveiling, had sparked a lot of debate in recent days, with some people criticizing it as “too provocative”.

“It’s a shame because student artists deserve to be praised, not criticized,” he said.

The students also made a monument to the victims of industrial accidents, which will be unveiled on Monday. “It’s a lot more important than the siren,” Marciano said.

It is not the first time that a statue depicting a woman has caused a scandal in Italy.

In 2021, a bronze statue depicting a woman in a see-through dress in the city of Sapri in Campania sparked a sexist controversy. The work of the sculptor Emanuele Stefano was conceived as a tribute to the female character from the poem “La Spigolatrice di Sapri” (“The Sapri Gatherer”), written by the poet Luigi Mercantini in 1857. The statue, which was named “An. an insult to women,” was unveiled at a ceremony attended by former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.