A billboard with Hollywood actress Julianne Moore posing in the buff for a fashion campaign has been banned in Venice after it was deemed “inappropriate”.

The Laws of Attraction star stripped off for a recent shoot for Bulgari handbags, the promotional poster for which, was to be erected in the city’s famous St Mark’s Square.

But Venice’s recently elected mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, deemed the picture, which shows Moore posing with only a handbag protecting her modesty, too risky.

“An advertisement showing a nude woman on a divan is not appropriate for St Mark’s Square,” he said.

The billboard will instead show less racy images of the 49-year-old actress fully dressed and modelling Bulgari jewellery.