MOSCOW – Calling the image engraved on the Russian 100-ruble banknote pornographic, a Russian lawmaker has demanded the government change the design because the semi-nude representation of the Greek god Apollo could be harmful to children.

In a letter to Central Bank chair Elvira Nabiullina, Member of Parliament Roman Khudyakovof noted the image, a reproduction of the Pyotr Klodt sculpture that has graced the entry of the iconic Bolshoi Theater since 1853, violates recent legislation outlawing dissemination of information and visual depictions that could be inappropriate for children. The law exempts items that bear cultural or historic significance as well as products to which access is age-restricted. According to Khudyakovof, banknotes meet neither criterion.

“Considering the fact that such bills are often handed to children as pocket money, I ask for your assistance in changing the design of the bill, or in bringing it into line with the current law in some other way,” his letter stated.

Russian legal experts interviewed by the newspaper Izvestia were divided in their analysis of the issue. Some indicated the banknotes might violate the law, passed in 2010, because they are publically disseminated printed matter; others told Izvestia the legislation’s vague definition of terms like “family values” and “sexual relations” hampers classification of materials. Besides, the latter group noted, the famous statue upon which the engraving is based has been on public display for more than a century without harming anyone.

The Klodt sculpture itself remains at the center of a controversy that erupted in October 2011, after the results of a six-year renovation of the Bolshoi were unveiled. A fig leaf was added to cover the statue’s genitalia, which had been exposed since at least WWII in keeping with the Classical artistic tradition. Bolshoi officials claim the fig leaf was lost or stolen during the early 1940s, but critics claim Klodt would not have sculpted Apollo’s genitals in detail only to cover them with a detachable modesty shield.

Officials at the government agency responsible for enforcing the “harmful to children” law have declined to comment about the controversy, saying monetary matters fall outside the agency’s authority.

[SIZE=1]Image: detail of engraving on the 100-ruble Russian banknote.
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