Home / Series / BBC Documentaries / Aired Order / Season 2011 / Episode 43

Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History

Writer and broadcaster 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 the work of Michelangelo, known to his contemporaries as 'the maker of pork things', 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 the ingenious machinations of Rodin brought nudity back to the public eye. In telling this story, Smith turns many of our deepest prejudices upside down, showing how the Victorians had a far more sophisticated and mature attitude to sexuality than we do today. He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo.

English
  • Originally Aired February 10, 2011
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Network BBC
  • Created February 13, 2011 by
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  • Modified February 13, 2011 by
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