From The Birth of Venus to the statue of David, many of the world’s most recognisable works of art depict nude people.
But despite being works of art, nude statues and paintings are often mistaken by social media algorithms as real people, meaning they’re blocked or censored.
Now, the Vienna Tourist Board has taken matters into its own hands, launching a page on OnlyFans to display the nude statues and paintings featured in the Leopold Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna and Albertina.
‘Vienna and its art institutions are among the casualties of this new wave of prudishness – with nude statues and famous artworks blacklisted under social media guidelines, and repeat offenders even finding their accounts temporarily suspended,’ it explained.
‘That’s why we decided to put the capital’s world-famous “explicit” artworks on OnlyFans.’
The Vienna Tourist Board has taken matters into its own hands, launching a page on OnlyFans to display the nude statues and paintings featured in the Leopold Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna and Albertina
Venus of Willendorf, a Venus figurine estimated to have been made around 25,000 years ago, is featured on the OnlyFans page
The unusual decision to launch a page on OnlyFans came after famous works of art were ‘blacklisted’ on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook for containing ‘lewd’ content, according to the Vienna Tourist Board.
Speaking to NBC News, Helena Hartlauer, a spokesperson for the Vienna Tourist Board, explained: ‘Right now, an algorithm determines what is okay to see and what is not.
‘And it definitely should not determine our cultural legacy.’
The works of art featured on the OnlyFans page include those from famous artists including Egon Schiele, Richard Gerstl, Koloman Moser and Amedeo Modigliani.
‘Besides changing the face of art forever, they are also known for their unflinching depictions of the nude human body,’ the Vienna Tourist Board explained.
‘So it hardly comes as any surprise to learn that some of their artworks fell foul of the censors over 100 years ago.’
Aside from serving as a fun way to draw attention to their exhibitions, the Vienna Tourist Board hopes the OnlyFans page will help to spark the conversation about censorship on social media.
‘We’ve decided to try to start a conversation about this topic because we thought it’s very Vienna,’ Ms Hartlauer added.
‘Because Vienna has always been a very open minded city. We believe it’s important for Vienna institutions in general to have some space for different ideas, and we’re not afraid of the naked truth.’
A subscription to the OnlyFans page costs $4.99/month (£3.62/month) and includes a free ticket to the featured museums where user can see the works of art in the flesh.
A subscription to the OnlyFans page costs $4.99/month (£3.62/month) and includes a free ticket to the featured museums where user can see the works of art in the flesh
According to Facebook’s nudity policy, photographs of nude artworks are allowed on its platforms.
‘We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause or for educational or medical reasons,’ the policy states.
‘We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures and other art that depicts nude figures.’
MailOnline has contacted Facebook for comment.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
