A council in the English city of Oxford has announced that it will consider selling some of its Biblical art that decorates the town hall in an effort to “better reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of [the] city”.

On Monday, March 20th, a Liberal Democratic councillor, Katherine Miles, submitted a motion to the council to have the artworks either removed or sold. The two paintings she demands be removed or sold are the Rape of the Sabine Women and Salome and Head of John the Baptist. The former depicts Roman mythology, whereas the latter is a biblical tale.

Ms. Miles has been working on an initiative to increase the diversity and representation of the artwork in Oxford City Council since June 2021. She claims that the paintings depict “animal cruelty and gender-based violence”, as well as a lack of diversity. More specifically, she argues the artwork contains fox hunting, representations of death, and depictions of rape.

In an interview with Oxford Mail, the newspaper that first reported the story, Ms. Miles reflected on the “lack of diversity,” stating, “[with] only three portraits in the town hall of women, it is high time the council redresses the existing lack of diversity within the town hall portraits to better reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of our city.

Therefore, in her words, the collection has “no practical value to the city” nor a “clear link to Oxford”.

Another Liberal Democrat councillor, Lawrence Fouweather, announced his support of the motion. He argues that the artwork could be sold to assist local residents in financial difficulties. “The Council,” he argues, “is running short of cash, and at the same time the cost of living crisis is thrusting many of our residents into tremendous hardship and poverty…this proposed one-off sale of select artworks from the city’s collection would help alleviate the dire plight of some of our most deprived residents”.

Ms. Miles, on the other hand, has stated that “[s]elling any existing artwork not on display, and not becoming of a public institution, may be [sic] one way to fund the costs of any initiative to improve the decorations in the town hall”.

One critic, Peter Whittle of the New Culture Forum in London, criticized the move, stating, “our culture continues to be dismantled by nobodies, morons and philistines”.

No verdict has been made on the sale. A spokesman for Oxford City Council has publicly stated that, as for now, “there is no council position on this matter”.

According to the Telegraph, “[d]iscussions about the diversity of public art in Oxford come after the city council created an “Anti-Racism Charter” in 2021, after pledging to tackle discrimination following Black Lives Matter protests the previous year.”