It must be admitted that the nudes went a surprising way from boudoirs and private rooms straight to museum rooms. And it is literally. Today, in austere spaces, they do not arouse such excitement anymore, but in the past they were a great excuse to show the beauty of the human body - so they were primarily intended to delight.
In 1908, the Venus of Willendorf was discovered during an archaeological excavation in Austria. A stone Paleolithic figurine depicting a female body was created over 20,000 years ago. She was probably associated with a fertility cult, so was not so much erotic as religious . It is treated as a symbolic beginning of the history of an act in art.
The famous figurine makes us aware of two issues - firstly, the old acts were always created in a specific context, most often religious or mythological, and second - the current canons of beauty evidently changed over the centuries.
Nudity - the perfect outfit for mythical gods and heroes
In antiquity, male representations of nude figures dominated. Only at the end of the epoch did the female act develop. First of all, the sculptures from that period attract attention, and for good reason, because no significant paintings have survived - rather frescoes or images adorning the vessels.
The carved figures were most often naked for two reasons - nudity showed the perfection of the human body, and the sculptor, creating his work, could show off his artistic craftsmanship and skills (and knowledge of anatomy). Importantly, the naked sculptures could not show living people, real people. The works were only images of gods and heroes, and later also goddesses, especially Venus - thanks to this the representations gained the necessary mythological and religious context. As Anna Ekielska writes in her publication "Nude in painting":
The evaluation of the acts in terms of their morality was rather simple and straightforward. As long as the image did not exceed the rigid and clearly delineated boundaries, and also fit within a sufficiently serious context of mythological or biblical history, even explicit eroticism could be accepted . When artists, starting with Goya and Manet, dared to present nudes in a contemporary, ordinary context, they were judged to be indecent.
The carved figures were most often naked for two reasons - nudity showed the perfection of the human body, and the sculptor, creating his work, could show off his artistic craftsmanship.
It was enough, then, to refer to mythology or religion clearly - for example, by appropriately titling the work or presenting the attributes of a mythical figure - for the sculptures and paintings to be considered decent. Thanks to this, you could admire them at will.
Looking at the ancient images of naked gods and heroes, you can see that they have a surprisingly small ... nature . The Greeks loved to measure out everything (including the correct proportions of a perfect sculpture), so those little apparitions were certainly not the result of a mistake.
Well, in ancient times, small penises were an object of desire. They were considered not only fashionable, but above all treated as a characteristic of the aristocracy and the elite. At the same time, they were supposed to symbolize cultural and intellectual superiority, as having a large naturalness was attributed to barbarians, foreigners and wild tribes. But - as already mentioned - the canons of beauty have changed over the centuries.
From medieval (in) modesty to Rubensian folds, that is - shapes
In the Middle Ages, unlike in the previous era, the sinfulness and impurity of the human body were emphasized. The play was made about God and for God's glory. It might seem that in such circumstances and with such guidelines it is not appropriate to paint nudity, but nothing could be more wrong.
As long as the artist followed the recommendation of the Council of Trent, according to which: "the characters will not be painted in a way that arouses excitement", then he could show the heroes of his work without clothes . Of course, in the right - that is, religious - context!
And although in the Middle Ages nudes did not exist as a theme in art, images of the Madonna with an uncovered breast or naked saints have survived . It was popular to depict Adam and Eve (often with fig leaves obscuring strategic places). It can be seen that in the Middle Ages, Eve took the place of ancient Venus. It was enough, therefore, that the biblical characters were shown in the painting, and the work was considered decent enough.
It was popular to portray Adam and Eve (often with fig leaves obscuring strategic places).
After a rather modest Middle Ages, in the Renaissance, nude art returned to art and became one of the basic and most important topics. Art education in this direction was essential, it was argued that studying and drawing the human body was the best exercise .
And although from that era mainly female nudes were painted, at first only men posed in academic studios. The artists could only study ancient images of goddesses or possibly ask them to pose as their partners. In the Renaissance, the ancient search for the ideal body dimensions continued. For this purpose, even mathematical calculations were used. A new canon of beauty appeared in the Baroque period - the so-called "Rubensian shapes". Rubens became famous as a creator of nudes, and he called himself "the painter of the human body".
It can be seen that since the Renaissance, more and more female nudes have been painted, but the mythological, religious and historical context has not been overlooked. The artists took care of the appropriately sensual mood of their paintings.
Rules are rules, but let's not forget that naked images of women were painted primarily for the pleasure of well-to-do and high-ranking men . For this reason, the scenes most often decorated the walls of a bedroom or a private office. Sometimes they were covered with curtains so that they would not tempt the eyes of unwanted people, for example servants. Or they did not offend the noble wife.
Provocation, controversy, indignation
In the nineteenth century, the creation of acts was still taken care of while maintaining the appropriate rules and framework, so as not to arouse controversy and not to outrage the public. However, in opposition to the academic community that adhered to traditional painting, new trends in art began to emerge, focusing on the everyday life of ordinary people.
The religious themes began to depart, models no longer played the roles of mythological gods and goddesses, and great historical scenes were replaced with motives violating social taboos, and thus scandalizing viewers. Pictures such as "Olympia" and "Breakfast on the Grass" by Édouard Manet literally caused a scandal, and Gustave Courbet's 1866 "The Beginning of the World" was not shown to the public until the mid-20th century . The world changed, and so did art and the face of nude.
Contemporary nudes are devoid of traditional messages or allegorical meanings, and what is erotic - or moral - is often decided not only by the artist but also by the viewer.