Throughout the ages art has went through many fazes or styles, some styles undergo scrutiny from those styles that followed, others accepted and built onto that style to create art that will always be notable. One aspect that has been under the microscope is the naked human body and how those time periods viewed nudity. Eras like the Upper Paleolithic and Aegean saw the female naked body as a way to bring luck to women during childbearing and fertility. Other cultures like the Ancient Greek and the Renaissance era choose to celebrate the human body as a work of art to be replicated and viewed often. The Modern World had a different opinion and thought that the naked human body brought nothing but scandal. In order to understand the way the
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“In the ancient civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans, the nude was used in abundance to glorify an idealized male physical strength because they were militaristic societies” (“The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and the Human Figure”). Similarly during the Renaissance, the nude human body was shown in works created for religious purposes. In an article for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sorabella described the transition of the way the naked human body was viewed in the Renaissance era as: “The rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture in the Renaissance restored the nude to the heart of the creative endeavor.” Many of the works that are painted in the Sistine Chapel are great examples how the naked human body is well-known in religion. Many of these paintings are scenes from the Bible, and contain nudity before Eve ate the apple. Another famous work that embodies the naked human body was a marble sculpture titles David, by Michelangelo. This sculpture has a large Greco-Roman influence that not only shows the nude biblical hero, but a work that exhibited the human body on the inside and out. Sculptors enjoyed making the naked human body into larger than life statues, many that still stand today. “Since the Renaissance, the body has continued to serve as a subject through which sculptors express feelings and ideas about the human experience” (Getlein 257). This idea of the naked human body as a muse expanded across many cultures and eras, however when the era known as the Modern World began, the idea of the naked human body female or male took an unexpected
“In the ancient civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans, the nude was used in abundance to glorify an idealized male physical strength because they were militaristic societies” (“The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and the Human Figure”). Similarly during the Renaissance, the nude human body was shown in works created for religious purposes. In an article for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sorabella described the transition of the way the naked human body was viewed in the Renaissance era as: “The rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture in the Renaissance restored the nude to the heart of the creative endeavor.” Many of the works that are painted in the Sistine Chapel are great examples how the naked human body is well-known in religion. Many of these paintings are scenes from the Bible, and contain nudity before Eve ate the apple. Another famous work that embodies the naked human body was a marble sculpture titles David, by Michelangelo. This sculpture has a large Greco-Roman influence that not only shows the nude biblical hero, but a work that exhibited the human body on the inside and out. Sculptors enjoyed making the naked human body into larger than life statues, many that still stand today. “Since the Renaissance, the body has continued to serve as a subject through which sculptors express feelings and ideas about the human experience” (Getlein 257). This idea of the naked human body as a muse expanded across many cultures and eras, however when the era known as the Modern World began, the idea of the naked human body female or male took an unexpected