Italian nude models have hit art schools where it hurts by resolutely refusing to get their kit off in a strike over pay and conditions, the Times reports.

The protestors are demanding “professional recognition” and full-time contracts in an industry where just 50 of 300 nude models have "fixed annual contracts", while the rest are paid by the hour.

Antonella Migliorini, 42, described posing naked as a “tough, cold job”. She said: “We are not porn stars. If you’re lucky enough to have a full-time job you might make €25 an hour."

Migliorini further bemoaned that art schools “do not show us much consideration - our privacy is violated". She explained: "Once a group of about 30 Japanese tourists turned up and started taking photographs. I had to cover myself up quickly.”

Rossella Lamina, speaking for the trades union backing the protest, said that "more than 60 art teachers in Rome, Florence, Venice, Carrara, Turin and Reggio Calabria had signed the life models’ appeal".

Education ministry official Nando Dalla Chiesa confirmed he'd agreed to meet the striking models, concluding: "We need to get to the bottom of this." ®

19 comments posted — Comment period finished