N.Y. City Settles Case Sparked by Dung Painting

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s attempt to cut city funding for a Brooklyn museum that showed a controversial painting of the Virgin Mary has cost the city $5.8 million in a court settlement announced Monday.

In an agreement approved by a federal judge, New York City and the Brooklyn Museum of Art agreed to end all litigation in an episode that centered on free speech rights and Nigerian-born Chris Ofili’s portrait “Holy Virgin Mary,” which incorporated elephant dung and pornographic photo cutouts.

According to the settlement, the first payment of $1.7 million is due July 1, and the rest next year.

Led by Giuliani, the city yanked funding from the museum the day before the “Sensation” exhibit opened Oct. 2. The mayor, who described the work as “sick” and “disgusting,” objected to the exhibit’s being supported by taxpayer’s money.

He also moved to evict the museum from city-owned premises and remove its board of trustees.