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Russian Advert of Renaissance Nudes Deemed 'Explicit'

Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has issued a formal warning to Moscow's Artplay Design Center over adverts featuring nudes from Renaissance artwork.

An anonymous citizen complained to authorities about the "sexually explicit" advert, which shows a panel from Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights triptych, the Kommersant newspaper reported Friday.

The work, which was painted between 1490 and 1510, shows the “naked bodies of men and women indulging in amorous pleasures and showing genitalia," FAS ruled, breaking advertising laws against "indecent and offensive imagery."

The outdoor billboard had been advertising Artplay's multimedia exhibition, Bosch: Visions Come Alive, an event opened by Artplay in March to mark 500 years since the Dutch artist's death. The billboard has since been removed, but Artplay is expected be fined up to 500,000 rubles ($7,700) for the advert.

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