Beijing :  Some netizens in China have launched a drive to cover nudes in classic artworks after turning anguished over a TV report earlier this week which put a mosaic over the private parts of Michelangelo s "David." According to Shanghai Daily, the online campaign commenced Monday after a national news programme covered the marble penis of David by Michelangelo, one of Italy s most famous artists, with a mosaic.

The cover-up caused some anger online. "The statue of David is a well-known masterpiece of art but the TV station treated it like some vulgar adult movie", said one of the comments on Weibo.com. An online poll by Chinese website, t.qq.com, showed only 4.2 percent of those participating believed that it was necessary to put on the mosaic while about 93 percent said it was completely unnecessary.

Under the slogan "Dress the nude rather than add mosaic," web users are now using computer software to superimpose garments on naked figures in famous paintings, the daily reported. One set of pictures, attracting wide popularity on Weibo.com, features many Renaissance artworks to which clothes have been added. In Spanish painter Francisco Goya s "The Nude Maja," the woman lying on the bed is now wearing a red one-piece dress of the type common among middle-aged Chinese women today.

In "Adam and Eve" by Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, Adam and Eve are no longer naked but have put on football shirts. "Chloe" by French figure painter Jules Lefebvre has been dressed in a black shirt and pants. In a new version of the painting "Le Guepier" by French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, the main female character has been given a pair of glasses and all the women have bellybands or, traditional Chinese underwear carrying words meaning "Wishing you prosperity".