Italian Prime Minister Hides--a Breast of--the Naked Truth Behind His Big Fat Head

Nicole Pasulka — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:31:00 GMT

Silvio Berlusconi or someone on his staff has incited bafflement and outrage by retouching (or rather dressing) a painting where he gives press conferences because an exposed breast floats above the prime minister's head "like a halo." What exactly has been done about this boob halo? Now, "an extra fold of clothing has appeared that covers the offending breast."

Come on! We know you're dying to see what was covered up!

That's right, none other than the 18th-century painting "Time Unveiling Truth" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Pretty racy stuff, eh? But we imagine something like this would be right up Berlusconi's alley, considering, as the Guardian points out:

The media mogul and Italy's prime minister made a large part of his fortune televising variety shows packed with scarcely veiled, undulating female flesh. One of the members of his cabinet - the equal opportunities minister, Mara Carfagna - was until just a few years ago a topless model and showgirl on one of his television channels.

Yes, by all means, protect this Berlusconi's image from a floating Renaissance titty. At this point, any false modesty or prudishness would be a pleseant change for a man who--

On welcoming newly elected female MP Mara Carfagna to parliament he joked: "I am obliged to remind you of a rule in the Forza Italia group, the jus primae noctis." (a Latin reference to the medieval "law of the first night" which gave the lord of an estate the right to "deflower" new brides)

Blech. Like most acts of over-the-top censorship, retouching this boob flash will do too little too late for the prime minister's reputation as a sexist moron.

Scanner : renaissance painting

Italian Prime Minister Hides--a Breast of--the Naked Truth Behind His Big Fat Head