“Should we remove the Mona Lisa from the Louvre?” The question, clearly provocative, is contained in a heartfelt appeal signed by dozens of French and Italian intellectuals and writers, to ask the French president, Emmanuel Macron, not to further strangle the teaching of the Italian language – already much sacrificed in recent years.
A few days before President Sergio Mattarella’s visit to France to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death in Amboise on May 2, 1519, the authors of the plea – which has now exceeded 7,000 signatures – underline the long friendship between the two Countries made of fruitful cultural crossings but also of “profitable economic exchanges” (Italy is the second commercial partner of France). “However – reads the plea – the teaching of Italian in France is very severely affected by the new reform of the high school, which upsets the teaching of LV3 (the third foreign languages)”.