The Capitoline’s risque artworks were hidden from view when Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani came to visit Rome. But not all countries are quite so accommodating

For most tourists, it would be the ultimate irritation: visiting one of Italy’s most famous museums, only to find famous exhibits hidden by wooden boxes. But this week, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, apparently enjoyed his time at the Capitoline Museum, despite the fact that many of the artworks were covered up before his trip. Conscientious Italian officials had taken the precaution of concealing nude statues for the first visit in a decade by an Iranian politician – albeit a moderate one – in a bid to be culturally sensitive.

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Not everyone was quite so thrilled, with some Italian critics complaining the decision to conceal some of the more risque artworks was a form of “cultural submission”. But Rouhani denied he was behind the attempt to censor the city’s cultural heritage, saying he appreciated the gesture. “I know that Italians are a very hospitable people, a people who try to do the most to put their guests at ease and I thank you for this,” he said.

At dinner, the Italians were equally tactful – serving fish rather than non-halal meat, and not serving alcohol. It’s not the first time the Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, has shown such diplomatic sensitivity. Last October, a Jeff Koons statue was cordoned off before the visit of Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iranian president Hassan Rouhan and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and some acceptablly non-offensive statues. Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP

Nor is it just Muslim leaders who get squeamish about being near scantily clad statues. In 2002, the US justice department spent $8,000 on curtains, apparently in a bid to cover up the 12ft, partially clothed Spirit of Justice statue. The attorney general at the time, John Ashcroft, was said to be sick of photographers capturing his head in front of the statue’s bare breast, although the department said Ashcroft was not involved in the decision.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alcohol may be off the menu, but not in France. Photograph: Getty Images/Image Source

Not all European countries have been as accommodating as Italy. In France, where halal meat has become a divisive topic and some schools have stopped providing Muslim and Jewish schoolchildren with alternatives to pork for school dinners, a lunch meeting between François Hollande and Rouhani was apparently cancelled over a request from the Iranians to avoid serving alcohol and to serve halal food. Reports suggest the French tried to change the meeting to breakfast-time instead, which the Iranians promptly rejected because it appeared too “cheap”. In 2009, a similar controversy with Nuri al-Maliki led to Iraq’s then prime minister declining a dinner invitation from Nicolas Sarkozy because he did not want alcohol at the table. In contrast, the emir of Qatar and the Saudi king have agreed to dinners in France where wine was served in opaque carafes, but then complained.

If this seems like a storm in a teacup, the French are reported to have had their own spats over what refreshments are acceptable – France’s current ambassador to the UK, Sylvie-Agnes Bermann, is said to have complained when a group of diplomats she brought to the House of Commons were served only tea and biscuits by the teetotal shadow foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn.