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Nude painting row at French school sparks teacher walkout

Heritage Images/Getty Images Diana and Actaeon by Giuseppe CesariHeritage Images/Getty Images
The painting by Giuseppe Cesari was put before pupils in the first year of high school

France's education minister has visited a school where some pupils refused to look at a painting of nude women in class, sparking a teacher walkout.

The pupils also accused their teacher of making racist and Islamophobic remarks, which the school denies.

Teachers at the Jacques-Cartier school near Paris refused to work in response.

Tensions had apparently been high since the start of term, with officials citing repeated complaints by parents about coursework and punishments.

The row began when a teacher showed Diana and Actaeon, a Renaissance-era painting portraying a mythical scene from Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Several first-year high school students, aged 11 and 12, said they were offended by the work by 17th-Century Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari, Sophie Venetitay from the Snes-FSU teachers union told AFP.

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

The next day, according to French reports, a parent wrote to the head teacher claiming that his son had been prevented from expressing himself in a later class discussion.

Staff felt they had been left unsupported and were working in a "degraded climate", Ms Venetitay said.

She said the case recalled the brutal killing of Samuel Paty, who was murdered after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a class.

French authorities believe untrue rumours spread about the class contributed to inciting an 18-year-old radicalised Chechen refugee to murder him close to the teacher's school in a Paris suburb. Last week, six teenagers were convicted for their role in the murder.

Education Minister Gabriel Attal said the pupils behind the complaints at the Jacques-Cartier school would face disciplinary measures and a team would visit the school to make sure it adhered to "values of the republic".

On Tuesday, classes at the school restarted after several days' interruption.