VENICE, Italy, Dec. 11 Money, not morals, forced Italy's first Museum of Eroticism to close, museum officials said.Rent and a lack of support from the area's tourism board led the museum to close after less than seven months' operation, Italy's ANSA news agency said. The museum was in Palazzo Rota, a four-story site near Venice's most holy site, St. Mark's Basilica.There was no lack of visitors; we had 40,000 of them, with a peak of 820 in one day, Director Frank Birch said. But the rent of Palazzo Rota became unsustainable and there were promotion problems.Tourists visited the museum, but locals were notably absent, Birch said. Commenting on those who said Venice has become bland, Birch said, Venice has lost all taste for transgression.The museum displayed all forms of erotic art, including sculpture, painting, photography, literature, graphic novels, posters and films. Space also was devoted to Venice's most famous bounder, Giovanni Casanova.Much of the material was returned to the Paris Museum of Eroticism, which loaned the works to the Venice facility.Copyright 2006 by UPI
