No one should be surprised that Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa's modern art installation for Raleigh went over like a Robert Mapplethorpe homoerotic photo exhibit at a fundamentalist church.

Art, architecture and politics have proved to be a potent brew in North Carolina.

James Goodmon, the CEO at Capitol Broadcasting, withdrew his $2.5 million gift offer to adorn the newly reopened Fayetteville Street. Raleigh officials were nonplussed by the proposal, saying they were worried that pedestrians would be sprayed by the water, that the mall vista might be compromised and that the upkeep would be too expensive.

Jaume Plensa, meet Antonio Canova.

Probably the most famous artwork ever exhibited in Raleigh was a statue of George Washington by Canova, once the world's most famous sculptor.

The statue was placed in the Capitol rotunda in 1821. It cost what was then a staggering sum, $11,487 -- or roughly $230,000 in today's dollars. Although the statue was described by contemporaries as the most important work of art in America, it encountered a cool reception from local folks.

Why, people asked, did Canova put Washington in Roman garb? Why was he wearing a laurel leaf instead of a three-cornered hat?

What next, a toga party in the Capitol?

The reaction was so strong that the legislature passed a law making it an indictable offense to "spit upon or in any way stain or designedly injure or in any manner deface" the statue.

You can imagine the reaction if Canova had sculpted Washington nude, as he did Napoleon.

The statue was destroyed in a fire in 1831, although a replica was installed in 1970. You can still see the Caesarean Washington during a visit to the Capitol.

This was the first of many public art/architecture controversies in North Carolina.

There was a pitched battle in the 1970s over whether to build a state art museum downtown or on state property in West Raleigh. State Sen. Tom White, then the most powerful figure in the legislature, insisted on the suburbs, saying the museum would have room to expand.

White must have been smiling in heaven last week as the museum showed plans for a $138 million expansion.

Public buildings and artworks have often been political targets -- the Light + Time sculpture in Raleigh and the teapot museum in Sparta.

But nobody could campaign against publicly subsidized art like former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. He won re-election in 1990 by criticizing the likes of Mapplethorpe, who was famous for his photographs involving naked men and bullwhips.

During a speech in Goldsboro, Helms had some advice for a San Francisco woman who wrote to the senator to tell him she threw up at the mention of his name:

"The next time it happens, frame it and send it to the National Endowment for the Arts, and they'll give you $5,000."

To be safe, a North Carolina politician should stick to war memorials, campus bell towers or statues of iconic figures such as Sheriff Andy Taylor.