The statue of Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco and his great love, Ana Plácido, is to be removed from its position in Porto because 37 people (admittedly ‘VIPs’ in political/ intellectual terms) consider it in very bad taste. The statue depicts Castelo Branco fully-dressed, being embraced by Ana Plácido who is naked. Petitioners claim it is a question of “aesthetic order, morality and the objectification of a woman”: either both figures should be naked, or both clothed. The statue was erected in 2012 outside a former prison where Castelo Branco and Ana Plácido were briefly imprisoned in the mid-1800s, accused of adultery – from which they were absolved. Porto mayor Rui Moreira has apparently agreed that the work is offensive. It should be removed soon, writes Vanessa Fidalgo in Correio da Manhã.
