To "celebrate" Valentine's Day, it seems kind of appropriate to note that the Goddess of Love - Venus - isn't allowed on the London Underground, as she's simply too nekkid. The 500 year old painting by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder was intended to be the main poster for the Royal Academy of Arts' show of his works.
But CBS Outdoor who are responsible for all the ads on the London Underground deemed it too sexual and likely to cause offence.
John Whittingdale, chair of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: "The decision is absolutely bonkers. This was painted around 500 years ago."
However, the rules say that ads should not "depict men, women or children in a sexual manner, or display nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context".
The Guardian report that "Six years ago the National Portrait Gallery - then headed by Charles Saumarez Smith, now chief at the Royal Academy - had to create a special, more modest poster for the underground of a 17th century painting by Lely of the beautiful Countess of Oxford with one breast bared. However, the Academy doesn't have a Venus under wraps. "We don't have a version B where she's got her clothes on," a spokeswoman said. "We're just hoping they change their minds and accept her."
They might be in for a long wait.
Venus now joins the ranks of Rampant Rabbit, a breast feeding bloke with man boobs, Jerry Hall with a pack of half naked men on leads and an ad for Gay Times which were all banned from the Tube for having the potential to cause offence.
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