Sunday, 23:00 
Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History
Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover Up in History
7.9/10 (7)
2011
Stephen Smith uncovers the secret history of the humble fig leaf, opening a window onto 2,000 years of Western art and ethics. He tells how Michelangelo's work fuelled the infamous 'fig leaf campaign', the greatest cover-up in art history; how Bernini turned censorship into a new form of erotica by replacing the fig leaf with the slipping gauze; and how Rodin's machinations brought nudity back to the public eye. Smith shows that the Victorians actually had a more mature attitude to sexuality than we do today and makes a plea for the return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art.