Muslim outrage over 17th century painting of nude women shown in French class sparks crisis – with teachers ‘in fear for their lives’ and going on strike after Renaissance artwork inspires religious fury

Religious fury sparked a crisis in French schooling last night after Muslim parents complained that a 17th century Renaissance painting of nude women was shown to a class of pupils.

Staff members at Jacques Cartier in Issou, west of Paris, refused to work on Monday amid the crisis sparked by the showing in class of a painting by a Renaissance master containing several nude women.

Education Minister Gabriel Attal visite the establishment in person on Monday and later said pupils who made false claims about the teacher in posts on social media would be disciplined.

It comes after a French court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their role in the 2020 killing of Samuel Paty outside his secondary school near Paris, after they helped to identify him to a radicalised Islamist.

Paty, a 47-year-old history and geography teacher, was stabbed and beheaded in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in October 2020, just 12 miles from Issou.

The Jacques Cartier school in Issou is at the centre of a row after a teacher showed a 17th century nude painting to children

A sign hung outside the school claimed that incidents at the school were up while resources to deal with them were in short supply

‘Diana and Actaeon’ (pictured) by the Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari, portrays a Greek myth in which the hunter Actaeon bursts in at a site where the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing

French education minister Gabriel Attal said those who made false claims about the teacher in question would be punished

Teachers there are now worried they too could be attacked, The Times reports.

On Thursday, ‘during a French class, a colleague showed a 17th-century painting that showed naked women’, said Sophie Venetitay, secretary general of the Snes-FSU secondary school teachers’ union.

The name of the female teacher and false claims that she had made racist remarks to Muslim students were subsequently circulated on social media, according to reports. 

The school reportedly logged 10 incidents of discrimination or racism in the school term this year, according to French broadcaster BFM TV.

In reference to the furore, Venetitay told the channel: ‘We know well that methods like that can lead to a tragedy… We saw it in the murder of Samuel Paty. Our colleagues feel threatened and in danger.’ 

The painting, ‘Diana and Actaeon’ by the Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari, portrays a Greek myth in which the hunter Actaeon bursts in at a site where the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing.

The work, which shows a naked Diana and four female companions, is held at the Louvre museum in Paris.

It was reportedly shown during an art class for students aged 12 and 13.

‘Some students averted their gaze, felt offended, said they were shocked,’ Venetitay said, adding that ‘some also alleged the teacher made racist comments’ during a class discussion.

A pupil’s parent sent an email to the school director saying that his son was prevented from speaking during that discussion and that he would file a complaint, she said.

She said it was the ‘final straw’ for teachers at the school, who had complained of a ‘very degraded climate’ as well as a ‘lack of support’ from management despite ‘several alerts’.

In an email sent to parents on Friday, teachers said they were exercising their right to stay away from classrooms over the ‘particularly difficult situation’ at the high school.

History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was decapitated outside a school near Paris

Pedestrians pass by a poster depicting French teacher Samuel Paty on November 3, 2020, following the decapitation of the teacher on October 16

Paty was violently stabbed to death and then decapitated by 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov on October 16, 2020

A photograph taken on October 16, 2023 shows a commemorative plaque for slain teacher Samuel Paty  near the Bois d’Aulne school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, outside Paris

Paty’s death sparked a large demonstration in Paris by advocates for freedom of speech

They described ‘palpable discomfort’ and ‘an increase in cases of violence’ as their daily reality.

Attal said that a disciplinary procedure would be launched ‘against the students who are responsible for this situation and who have also admitted the facts’.

A team would also be deployed to the school to ensure it adhered to the ‘values of the republic’, he said.

The tensions come after a series of attacks against teachers in recent years.

In 2020, Samuel Paty was murdered after messages spread on social media that Paty had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

And in October, another radicalised Islamist stabbed his former teacher Dominique Bernard to death in the northern town of Arras.

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