Rai uses altered image with genitals removed in opening credits, prompting backlash from media and politicians
Italy’s state broadcaster, Rai, has been accused of censorship after using an image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man with the genitals missing in the opening credits for its Winter Olympics coverage.
The image of the 500-year-old drawing appears at the start of the clip before transforming into the bodies of ice skaters, skiers and other winter sports athletes.
The imperfection was first picked up by Corriere della Sera, which asked: “What happened to the Vitruvian Man’s genitals?”
The newspaper noted that all the other attributes of the Vitruvian Man’s body appeared to have been faithfully reproduced, “except for that one detail”, which appeared to have been “redacted”.
