Pitti Palace male sculptures

Lisa,
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_leaf

Finally, a topic more interesting than the dollar vs. euro exchange rate! There is the story, told by Rick in one of his shows, about a male nude sculpture in one of the better known museums (I forget which one) that has a removable fig leaf. Apparently, in the old days, when the museum management was aware that a VIP with special sensitivities was going to visit, they would place the fig leaf onto the offending part and then remove the leaf when the coast was clear. Today they keep the fig leaf next to the sculpture.

Yes, I was thinking London--could it be the British Museum? This is an important point of art history (pun intended)--does anyone out there know which museum contains the sculpture with the removable fig leaf?

(Graffiti Wall Editor's response: Victoria & Albert Museum in London; sculpture copy of Michangelo's, The David)

I'm sorry I didn't phrase my question better. These sculptures have actually had that part broken off of them. It's not covered with anything...a leaf would be more pleasing to the eye than just broken marble!

Lisa,
I thought the reference I gave explained that sometimes the sculpture was damaged (the penis removed) in order to place the fig leaf and effectively hide everything.

Lisa....in past days of religious fervour, many of the statues were damaged by crowds which thought the display of genitalia was immmoral...so took matters into their own hands (so to speak.)

Lisa,...further to that...sometimes, religious leaders would take action on their own....either chopping off the offending part or, late in the Renaissance, adding fig leaves to hide the offending parts...it all really depended on the moral temper of the times. There's the story of the removable fig leaf placed over the genitalia of the cast of Michelangelo's "David" on display in the British Museum, during a visit by Queen Victoria.

There's reference to removing private parts in one of Dan Brown's books - think it was Angels and Demons - based on true events.

The tour guide we had for the Vatican (she was in her 60's and was a hoot!) told us that the religious nuts (her term) whacked 'em all off, deciding that it wasn't nice to see those body parts. As we strolled down yet another hall of statues, she waved a hand in the general direction of...those body parts...and said, "Well, that sure cut down on reproduction, didn't it?"

Thank you all for the good information! Lisa