Lefebvre, Jules Joseph. Odalisque. 1874. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. 1 May 2007. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Odalisque.jpgThe Nude Figure in Western Art:
Renaissance to Present Day
LA 201.75: Western Cultural Traditions II
May 10, 2007
As far back as the fifth century BCE, the undraped human figure has appeared in countless pieces of art. While depictions of nude figures may seem to serve only aesthetic purposes, these pieces have actually provided significant benefits to society. For example, nude portraits have imparted historians and anthropologists with graphic chronicles of the lives and cultures of the past. Since it gained popularity in the Renaissance period, however, nudity in the arts has long been a recurrent topic of controversy in Western cultures.
According to the Grove Art Online research web site, the nude figure in Western art appears to have originated in Greece, sometime around the fifth century BCE. Because Christianity began to wield a greater influence over society and culture beginning in about the third century ADE, the nude figure as an artist’s muse did not spread throughout the West until the about the 15th century, and even then, some European countries were hesitant to accept it[1].
Artist Unknown. Photo by Laura Scudder. Aphrodite, Pan, and Eros. National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece. 10 May 2007. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Aphrodite_Pan_and_Eros.jpg
On Oxford Reference Online, Harold Osborne and Hugh Brigstocke state that the practice of drawing a live model did not become common practice until the Renaissance period. The oldest surviving evidence of live model use was found in drawings by Antonio di Puccio Pisano, better known as Pisanello, a 15th century painter and medallist. Because of the drawings hazy appearance, it was thought that Pisanello sketched female figures from behind a veil or curtain to appease the morals of the Catholic Church.
Men were more often used as models, even when the artist was rendering a female figure. While this also served decency purposes, the predominantly male artist community believed “that the male form was nobler and the female one lacking in proportion” (Osborne and Brigstocke)[2]. As one could imagine, using a male as a reference point for a female figure resulted in some very masculine-looking women.
By the end of the 15th century, professional male art models were posing in studios and in educational “’life class[es]’” (Osborne and Brigstocke). The use of female models in Europe did not become popular until well after the 18th century, but it has been documented that Roman artists were using female models as early as 1650.
Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix. Mademoiselle Rose. 1824. The Louvre, Paris. 9, May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Eug%C3%A8ne_Ferdinand_Victor_Delacroix_024.jpg
Religion had such a heavy influence on art that it is almost incredible that nude models were used at all during this time. Fra Bartolomeo, an Italian Renaissance painter, became so conflicted by his nude work, that he “burnt his drawings after hearing an impassioned sermon…, but changed his mind after seeing Michelangelo’s works in Rome” (Osborne and Brigstocke).
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, simply known as Michelangelo, was best known for his awe-inspiring paintings and lifelike sculptures. Many of his muscular figures appeared nude or scantily clothed. One such piece was Michelangelo’s statue of Christ at the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, titled Cristo della Miverva, which was completed in 1521. According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, the statue was to represent the resurrected Savior. The priest who commissioned the piece felt that Christ would not have been clothed, having just resurrected himself. The statue was carved and erected, sans clothing. Sometime in the Baroque era, the piece was fitted with a bronze loin cloth for the sake of virtue[3].
Michelangelo. Christ the Redeemer. 1521. Santa Maria Church. 9 May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Michelangelo-Christ_the_Redeemer.jpg
Some of Michelangelo’s most famous works, the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, were also a subject of infamous argument. The Last Judgment, a huge mural covering an entire wall within the chapel, caused such a stir that another artist was later commissioned to cover portions of it. As told by the Vatican Museum, a high ranking member or the church was quoted as saying “’it was most dishonest in such an honoured place to have painted so many nude figures who so dishonestly show their shame and that it was not a work for a Chapel of the Pope but for stoves and taverns’ (G. Vasari, LeVite)” (Vatican.va). The decision was made by the Council of Trent in 1564, the same year as Michelangelo’s death, to have Daniele da Volterra paint “breeches” onto the nude figures[4].
Michelangleo. The Last Judgement. 1541. The Sistine Chapel. 9 May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Last_judgement.jpg Another of Michelangelo’s statues, David, was fitted with a removable fig leaf after being presented to Queen Victoria in 1857. The Victoria and Albert South Kensington Museum, current exhibitioners of both David and the two foot fig leaf, tells of the contention the nude statue has caused:
“A letter sent to the Museum in 1903 by a Mr Dobson complained about the
statuary displayed: 'One can hardly designate these figures as "art"!: if it is,
it is a very objectionable form of art.'
In relation to Mr Dobson’s complaint, the then director Caspar Purdon Clarke noted:
'The antique casts gallery has been very much used by private lady teachers for
the instruction of young girl students and none of them has ever complained even
indirectly' (museum papers, 1903)[1]” (Victoria & Albert Museum web site).
During the modest Victorian Era, public figures endeavored on “fig-leafing” campaigns, whereby unclothed statues and paintings received an appropriately placed fig leaf. According to Wikipedia.org, some statues of male figures even had the penis removed to accommodate the fig leaf[2]. Numerous pieces of priceless art were irreparably damaged by this.
There happens to be another school of thought by a group who is discontented by nude art forms, particularly the female nude. Some feminists have taken offense to the fact that the term “nude” has developed a feminine connotation. In Lynda Nead’s book, The Female Nude, she discusses how people think they can label anything art as long as it contains a naked female, even if it borders on pornography[3].
Lidia Guibert Ferrara and Frances Borzello, in an article published by British news press The Guardian, discuss how the addition of certain historical icons in art work can change the connotation from sexual to respectable. In the article titled, “Nude Awakening”, Ferrara and Borzello suggest that by adding a cupid or changing the figure’s pose to a “goddess”-like position, the nude art form has become acceptable. An example they used was Manet’s Olympia exhibit in Paris. Instead of the traditionally drawn, passive, reclining nude female, Manet unveiled a modern woman who appeared to be actively staring back at the viewer. The audience was appalled[4].
Manet, Edouard. Olympia. 1863. Musee d’Orsay, Paris. 10 May 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_%28painting%29
This brings us to the real issue of nudity and art: the line between art and pornography can be quite vague. To complicate things even further, there appears to be a genre in between: “erotic art”. Erotic art is defined as “art with sexual content and… art that celebrates sexuality” (Grove Art Online). Erotic art is nothing new. Cave paintings depicting sexual rituals were found in southern France that date back to the Paleolithic era. Classical Greek and Roman mythological gods and goddesses were frequently portrayed nude and participating in sexual acts to represent fertility. In the Western world under the rule of Christianity, sexuality in art has undergone repression, thus making eroticism in art all the more interesting[5].
Manet, Edouard. Olympia. 1863. Musee d’Orsay, Paris. 10 May 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_%28painting%29
This brings us to the real issue of nudity and art: the line between art and pornography can be quite vague. To complicate things even further, there appears to be a genre in between: “erotic art”. Erotic art is defined as “art with sexual content and… art that celebrates sexuality” (Grove Art Online). Erotic art is nothing new. Cave paintings depicting sexual rituals were found in southern France that date back to the Paleolithic era. Classical Greek and Roman mythological gods and goddesses were frequently portrayed nude and participating in sexual acts to represent fertility. In the Western world under the rule of Christianity, sexuality in art has undergone repression, thus making eroticism in art all the more interesting[5].
Klimt, Gustave. Danae. 1908. Leopold Museum, Vienna. 7 May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gustav_Klimt_010.jpg
Gustav Klimt was perhaps one of the best examples of an erotic artist. A painter of the female nude, his pieces contained subliminal phallic symbols and frequent scenes of masturbation. Born in Austria in the late 1800s, Klimt was often criticized as being immoral. Economist magazine, in a story about Klimt, described him as being “the finest ever draughts[man] of the human body” (77-78)[6]. However, they suggest that the Viennese bourgeoisie considered Klimt’s work as “an excuse to show erotic nudes in the name of art”(77). Perhaps their opinion has some truth to it, but considering a Klimt original just sold at auction for over $130 million, he must have pleased someone.
Another thought: is there a difference between “nude” and “naked”? Art historian Kenneth Clark, in his book The Nude: Study in Ideal Form, answers that question: “To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes, and the word implies some of embarrassment most of us feel in that condition. The word ‘nude’, on the other hand, carries, in educated usage, no uncomfortable overtone[7]” (Clark, 34).
As Arthur C. Danto states in the magazine The Nation, “nude goes with beauty and naked goes with shame” (Danto, 101)[8]. Borrowing an example from the Bible, Danto explains that prior to the fall from Eden, Adam and Eve were shamelessly nude. He describes their existence with a child-like innocence. After Eve takes the apple from the Tree of Knowledge and shares it with Adam, “then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7)[9]. Danto explains, “it is when male and female were transformed from nudity to nakedness that sex became associated with darkness” (Danto, 101). Could this then be a reference to pornography?
Dürer, Albrecht Adam and Eve. 1507. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. 9 May 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Durer_Adam_and_Eve.jpg
Actually, pornography, as defined by The New Oxford American Dictionary, is “printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” [10] So simply including a nude figure in an art piece does not constitute pornography, it is the “intention”.
Obviously, nudity in art has offended many people over the last several hundred years. But aside from causing conflict, the unclothed human figure in the fine arts has served its purpose. Since prehistoric times, the depictions of humans, clothed or not, have served as valuable records of history. In Anne Abichou’s article “art and the body,” she points out that “cultural attitudes and a society's understanding of sexuality can often be seen through the depictions of the human figure.[11]” For a cultural anthropologist or historian, a nude sketch from a little known era could provide a much sought after clue to the past.
Take, for example, the following painting by Tiziano Vecellio. During the 16th century, female figures in art were normally plump, lacked muscle tone, and had modest-sized breasts (by today’s standards). The breast size may be attributed to the fact that many artists used young boys to pose for paintings. Now, consider today’s standards: anorexic-thin waifs with super-augmented breasts. There is certainly a distinction between the ideal female figure of the present and the woman of the 16th century.
Vecellio, Tiziano. Venus Anadyomene 1525. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. 08 May 2007.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Anadyomene.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Anadyomene.jpg
The bare human figure provided scientific function as well. During the Renaissance, anatomical study became imperative to the medical field. Illustrations of human anatomy functioned as vital reference materials for the early medical community. However, many of the subjects for these drawings were cadavers and little controversy surrounded their nudity.
Over the ages in Western art, there have been attempts to try to classify nudity and nakedness, art and pornography. Different eras, having different religious influences, are responsible for creating these labels. While there may be a fine line between art and porn, a single person has no right to judge self-expression. Sexuality, a topic of taboo, is still a part of art, history, and every human being who has ever walked this earth.
WORKS CITED LIST
[1] “David’s Fig Leaf”. Victoria and Albert Museum. 8 May 2007.
[2] “Fig Leaf” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 9 May 2007.
[3] “Women and Art History: Feminist Critiques: The Nude.” Grove Art Online. 29 December 2003. Oxford University Press. Murrysville Community Library (IP). 9 May 2007.
[4] Lidia Guibert Ferrara and Frances Borzello. “Nude Awakening.” The Guardian. 2 November 2002. 9 May 2007. <>
[5] “Erotic Art.” Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. Murrysville Community Library (IP). 10 May 2007.
[6] “A Fine Line.” Economist. Feb 2005.: 77-78.
[7] Clark, Kenneth. The Nude: Study in Ideal Form. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
[8] Danto, Arthur C. “Art.” The Nation. Jan. 1994: 100+
[9] New American Standard Bible. USA: Oxford University Press, 2005.
[10] "pornography n." The New Oxford American Dictionary, second edition. Ed. Erin McKean. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Murrysville Community Library (IP). 10 May 2007
[11] Anne Abichou "art and the body" The Oxford Companion to the Body. Ed. Colin Blakemore and Sheila Jennett. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Murrysville Community Library (IP). 8 May 2007
