25 Sep, 2019 @ 09:30
1 min read

Iranian officials in Tehran remove one of 283 museum items on loan from Alicante as lithograph showed Queen Isabella II with ‘too much cleavage’

THE Iranian government has confiscated a lithograph on loan from an Alicante museum as it depicted Spain’s Queen Isabella II with ‘too much cleavage’.

The lithograph was removed on the order of officials from the Iranian Ministry of Culture as the mid-19th century Queen was wearing a sumptuous dress with a neckline and shoulders bared.

IMPROPER: Officials from Iran’s Ministry of Culture deemed the Queen was showing ‘too much cleavage’

The item was one of 283 loaned by Alicante’s Marq museum to the National Museum of Iran (MNI), in Tehran, as part of an exchange programme.

It has been repackaged and deposited in the MNI’s store rooms until the exhibition finishes in April next year and the items return to Spain.

The lithograph itself depicts the Queen’s visit to Alicante on May 25, 1858, on the first trip of the new trainline with Madrid.

Isabella II appears in the center of the image surrounded by dozens of people celebrating the event while being presented with a tray with delicacies.

This piece was selected along with 282 others by the technicians of both the MNI and the Marq for the exhibition, but was immediately removed before it could be viewed by the public.

It comes after the MNI loaned artefacts for the Iran: Cradle of Civilisation exhibition at the Marq earlier this year.

Joshua Parfitt

Joshua James Parfitt is the Costa Blanca correspondent for the Olive Press. He holds a gold-standard NCTJ in multimedia journalism from the award-winning News Associates in Twickenham. His work has been published in the Sunday Times, Esquire, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Sun on Sunday, the Mirror, among others. He has appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss devastating flooding in Spain, as well as making appearances on BBC and LBC radio stations.

Contact me now: joshua@theolivepress.es or call +44 07960046259. Twitter: @jjparfitt

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

policia
Previous Story

Five people arrested over lethal listeria outbreak in Spain which caused seven abortions and killed three

seville e
Next Story

August was best month IN HISTORY for tourism in Spain’s Andalucia, but which province grew the most?

Latest from Costa Blanca

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press

WATCH: Major fire tears through popular water park on Spain’s Costa del Sol – ahead of planned renovations

A DRAMATIC fire today caused serious damage at a popular

Quirónsalud Marbella Hospital among the best-reputed hospitals in Spain

ONCE again Quirónsalud Marbella Hospital has been ranked among the