LONDON (Reuters) – A 16th Century painting of Venus featuring the Roman goddess of love wearing little but a smile has been deemed too risque for the eyes of London’s Tube travelers.

London Underground bosses have banned a poster of the 1532 work by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, promoting an upcoming Royal Academy exhibition.

The Academy is outraged.

“We are disappointed and find it quite ridiculous in this day and age,” said Head of Press and Marketing, Jennifer Francis.

“The painting is around 500 years old — it’s a pure painting by a master,” she told Reuters.

But Transport for London, which operates the Tube network, is unmoved.

“Millions of people travel on the London Underground each day and they have no choice but to view whatever adverts are posted there,” a spokesman said.

“We have to take account of the full range of travellers and endeavour not to cause offence in the advertising we display.”

Advertising standards on the Tube are vetted by the company CBS Outdoor. It states that posters can not “Depict men, women or children in a sexual manner, or display nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context.”

The Tube has banned historic paintings before.

In 2001 it refused to pass a 17th century portrait by Sir Peter Lely of a mistress in Charles II’s court nonchalantly exposing a breast on a poster for a National Portrait Gallery show.

The Royal Academy, which must now scramble to design another poster for its exhibition, had considered placing black strips over Venus’s offending bodily parts.

But Francis said they will more likely use a cropped version of the painting to advertise the show, which opens on March 8.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A mysterious blonde paid a visit to a petrol station shop in the small eastern German town of Doemitz on Sunday — wearing nothing but a pair of golden stilettos and a thin gold bracelet.

The tall, slender woman strolled into the shop in the town of Doemitz on the warm afternoon and bought cigarettes, petrol station employee Ines Swoboda told Reuters on Monday.

“I wasn’t surprised because she’s come in naked before — she’s a very nice woman,” Swoboda said, adding none of the other customers were bothered. The woman could have faced charges of creating a public disturbance if anyone had complained.

A quick-witted customer did, however, snap pictures of the woman believed to be about 30 years old as she walked back to a waiting Ferrari and climbed into the passenger seat. Several of those photos appeared in the German media on Monday.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – A leading Indian painter is losing his home and other properties after failing to appear before a court trying him for hurting religious sentiments by painting “Mother India” as a naked woman.

Maqbool Fida Husain’s paintings have often depicted revered Hindu gods and goddesses in the nude, sparking criticism from nationalist parties and activists. A decade ago, radicals even attacked his Mumbai home.

The painting at issue in the latest controversy shows a naked woman in front of a wheel resembling the one used in India’s national flag. The names of some of India’s states are written across her body.

A similar composition of a sari-clad woman with a wheel — a Buddhist symbol known in Hindi as the dharma chakra — in the background is used to portray “Mother India” in many patriotic publications.

Husain’s work drew protests and several court cases were filed against the 91-year-old painter who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London.

“He did not answer repeated summons from one of the courts which has now issued a proclamation to attach his properties,” Mumbai police official Brijesh Singh told Reuters.

“We have pasted the attachment proclamation notice on his home and are checking if he owns any more properties.”

Akhil Sibal, Husain’s lawyer, told Reuters: “My client was unaware of any summons from court. Now that we have come to know we are moving to the supreme court,”

“This is a politically motivated case.”

Rightwing groups have called for the arrest of Husain, whose flowing white locks and beard, and habit of walking barefoot, have become iconic in Indian art circles.

In the past Husain, a Muslim, has received support from moderate, progressive Hindus, and on one occasion a former prime minister intervened to ensure no action was taken against him.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Somehow, a thief or thieves was able to swipe a 50-pound bronze statue of a nude woman from an art gallery downtown in broad daylight.

The statue, titled “Crissy” and valued at $12,600, disappeared as visitors were perusing three private galleries at the CityArts Factory in downtown Orlando.

It was last seen at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, and may have been rolled on a trail of T-shirts and windbreakers workers came back to that lead out the door.

“I thought, is there a naked person in there?” said Cassy Turiczek, executive director of the Downtown Arts District, after seeing the clothes.

“Crissy” had been at CityArts Factory for a little more than two weeks on a 4-foot pedestal in the building’s community gallery, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

It featured a woman with an arched back and a swirling mane of thick hair.