Indecent art

Indecent art is any depiction of obscene or indecent material, including by not limited to depictions of sado-masochism, homo-eroticism, the sexual exploitation of children, individuals engaged in sex acts; any depiction which denigrates the objects or beliefs of the adherents of a particular religion; or any depiction which denigrates, debases or reviles a person, group or class of people on the basis of race, creed, sex, handicap, age or national origin.

A classic example is the case of the painting of the Last Judgement by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. The original was attacked at the time because of the exposure of "genitals in such relief that even in the whore-houses they could not fail to make one close one's eyes". Following criteria for church art defined by the Council of Trent in 1563, a decision was taken to paint over the parts that the priests found offensive. In 1990, concern remained during the restoration of the painting as to whether the concealment should be removed. In the UK during the Victorian era, statues in the Roman and Greek sections of the British Museum are alleged to have had their sexual appendages diligently removed. The process has in some cases been subsequently reversed.