{"id":537993,"date":"2026-03-15T12:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537993\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:43:14","slug":"the-national-gallery-too-much-nudity-religion-and-woke-public-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537993\/","title":{"rendered":"The National Gallery? Too much nudity, religion and woke, public say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visitors to Ireland\u2019s main art gallery complained of nudity, too many religious paintings, a picture showing male genitalia, and \u201ctransgender tours\u201d.<\/p>\n

The National Gallery (NGI) was also criticised for loaning out some of its most high-profile art, including works by Caravaggio and Vermeer, to other museums.<\/p>\n

One person said a work in the AIB Portrait Prize depicted a male penis. They wrote: \u201cI was later informed that there was a warning sign, but I didn\u2019t see any and I think the sign should be better displayed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another person argued there were \u201ctoo much naked boys\u201d in artworks while another said \u201csome paintings are slightly disturbing\u201d.<\/p>\n

The complaints, released under freedom of information laws (FOI), also reveal visitors unhappy with the abundance of religious art and the lack of female representation<\/a>. One visitor wrote: \u201cThere is an astonishing lack of female artists! What are the gallery\u2019s plans to rectify this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the complaints were highly specific, including one about a John Lavery painting, which a visitor said was poorly hung opposite a large window. \u201c[The painting] is dark in composition, it\u2019s near impossible to make out,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\"Painting<\/p>\n

The Taking of Christ, 1602, by Caravaggio, was inconveniently taken elsewhere according to one complaint<\/p>\n

FINE ART IMAGES\/HERITAGE IMAGES\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Others wrote of the lack of Irish displays or information for Seachtain na Gaeilge. A repeat visitor lamented the fact that the gallery\u2019s most famous painting, The Taking of Christ, was out on loan both times they visited. \u201cThis is the second year I\u2019ve come to see the Caravaggio and it\u2019s not here. Vermeer also not on display,\u201d they said. \u201cVery disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some were not impressed with the quality of work on show, with one writing: \u201cI can do better paintings.\u201d One person said it was a disgrace that a video had won a prestigious portrait prize. \u201cYou\u2019re a joke of an institution at this stage,\u201d they said, while bemoaning \u201c\u2018transgender\u2019 tours\u201d. They wrote: \u201cIs your funding conditional on this sort of bollocks?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another complaint claimed it was wrong to have a portrait of the historian Catherine Corless on display. Corless was instrumental in documenting the death and burial of nearly 800 children at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home<\/a>. The complainant bizarrely argued it denigrated the Catholic Church and the legacy of a group of nuns who dedicated their lives to the service of others.<\/p>\n

In one email \u2014 redacted under FOI laws \u2014 a visitor said entries for one competition should not have included the artist\u2019s inspiration. They said: \u201cFor me, this is making a political statement and has no place in the National Gallery of Ireland and would be more suited to the building next door [Leinster House].\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman said: \u201cIn 2025, we welcomed over one million visitors on site to visit their National Gallery. We actively welcome feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors to Ireland\u2019s main art gallery complained of nudity, too many religious paintings, a picture showing male genitalia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-537993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}