It all starts with an anonymous letter. In Vannes, the management of the Bretagne Atlantique hospital center (CHBA) should request the removal of a fresco painted around ten years ago on the walls of the boarding school. The author(s) of the anonymous letter denounced the sexist and pornographic nature of the work, not visible to the general public, on which one could observe a woman “in a gynecological position” in the middle of a sexual act with a man. Around them, three other men look on, exposing their genitals, as described West France.
Having received the file, the medical commission of the health establishment announced that the painting would soon be removed. According to West France, a vote was organized at the start of the year to consult students on whether or not to maintain the fresco. Result: 73% voted in favor of maintaining it, 7% wanted its withdrawal and 20% had not voted, reports the daily.
Frescoes already removed elsewhere in France
These so-called “rifle” frescoes very often show obscene scenes found in the guard rooms of hospital interns. In January, the Ministry of Health took up the subject. On January 17, an instruction sent to all French hospitals requested the removal of “all rifle frescoes of a pornographic and sexist nature” from guard rooms. The subject had been the subject of controversy at the Toulouse medical boarding school when a new painting appeared in 2021. The courts had requested its removal. In 2015, a rifle painting was erased in Clermont-Ferrand.