Is nudity in the "Renaissance" due to religious or erotic reasons?

Source image
National Galleries of Scotland

Renaissance artists revolved around the history of Western art, when nudity in their work was a major element of their art of painting and sculpture. What has been seen in this period of renewed interest in everything that is old and new focus on the role of images and drawings in the rituals of Christianity, encouraged artists to create lives and details of subjects of their drawings, which allowed the emergence of a new artistic trend full of vitality to represent the human body.

Although the ability to portray the naked body at that time was a measure of the artist's genius, the process did not unfold without controversy, particularly in religious paintings.

While many artists pointed out that the representation of the harmonious mathematical body in the paintings gave a hint of virtue, others feared that this could provoke this desire, which often caused fear of its honesty.

In this context, the exhibition "Nudity at the Renaissance", to be held early next week at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, explores the stages of the development of nude photography across Europe, with different themes between religious, secular and classical, Reveals not only how this art has achieved its dominant position, but also the trends that prevailed at the time – and which were often surprising – towards the sex and the nudity.

Source image
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, paintings representing the naked body appear regularly in the context of the works of what is called "Christian art".

"The first body to appear naked was the body of Christ," says Gilles Peric, co-author of the exhibition's guide, but the attitude of people toward the art Christian has undergone a major change from the fourteenth century. From this art, in prayers, rituals and cults in which Christians are individually involved. "

At the time, people were interested in the idea of ​​becoming aware of what Christ was going through, as well as "the use of images and paintings as a way of feeling – in real terms – the sufferings of Christ and the saints ".

As a result, artists have struggled to make these images more vivid and more representative of the image they represent of Jesus, saints, and other religious figures, which has gradually become more realistic.

This is clearly illustrated by Jan van Eyck's painting of Adam and Eve in his painting on wood bearing the name "Ghent" and completed in 1432.

This work is surprisingly rich in detail, although it is considered one of the first paintings to have drawn its real painters. The painting shows Adam's hands and was bleeding in the sun, as indicated by the lines going through Eve's belly that she was clearly pregnant with.

Source image
Alamy

In their depiction of nudity in their works, Van Eyck and other artists from the Bekaa, located in northern Europe – outside of Italy – have benefited from a rich and complex traditional art that not only has inspired the details of what is called religious art, but also includes world themes such as bathing scenes. And what happens in brothels.

In addition, the invention of rich and brilliant oil painting has also allowed these artists to be much more realistic.

B "naked eye"

Renaissance artists in Northern Europe have also benefited from the generally uncompromising attitude of society towards the issue of nudity itself.

"There was a lot of nudity in a lot of things in the north, like processions," says Perc. This contrasts with the case in Italy, which, according to Perc, prevails over long-standing ideas about what is right or wrong. See women's bodies even after marriage.

In addition, Italians believed that the female body was fundamentally inferior to the body of the man. According to Aristotle, the woman's body was not properly trained in the uterus and lacked the heat needed to train and produce the genitals.

Although Italian shepherds enthusiastically collected the nude designs depicting the Nordic girls, most 15th century Italian painters preferred to focus on the body of the man, which may not be a surprise. There was no exception like the painter Sandro Botticelli.

Source image
Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth

Thus, artists began to draw characters and ideal characteristics. They took as a model the ancient works and took advantage of the human culture and available models, represented in the classical statues.

Many scholars consider that Gibberti is part of the doors of the cathedral of Florence between 1401 and 1403 and begins to eat naked flesh in the Renaissance. This part shows the prophet Ishaq standing heroically and the bronze in which he performed the work showed his thoracic muscles extremely wavy.

Also in Florence, between 1430 and 1440, the Italian artist Donatello sculpted a sculpture of the incomparable character of the prophet David. Prak says the statue shows a slender body and a slouching posture of the character he embodied, designed for a culture that readily accepted the idea that "men will find a young man's body to be beautiful and voluptuous."

In fact, homosexuality seemed to be the norm at the time, despite its legal prohibition. According to Berk, "more than half of Florence's men were accused of having sex with other men during the fifteenth century".

At that time, St. Sebastian was a favorite subject for works of art and it was not only men who raised his physical strength, his feelings and his desires. Once, one of these works – the painter Fara Bartolomeo – was removed from a church in Florence, after the organizers thought that the women praying in this church were awakened with enthusiasm and passion.

Source image
Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid

In spite of the unfortunate result of the painting in the Church that led to his eventual transfer, Bartolomeo's intentions were beyond doubt, they were totally useless, which certainly did not apply to what the brothers Limburg had made it at the beginning of the fifth century. As part of Christian prayers for the Duke of Berry, ten books were prepared under the name of "watches". Although the purpose of these books was apparently to venerate the eyes and eyes, they included images of St. Catherine shown with a studded waist and two naked prominently, as well as a pale pink skin, which These images touched the limits of sensuality.

This work paved the way for the emergence of a constant fusion between the spiritual and the sensual in religious art in France. The arrival of the painter Jean Fouquet at the court of King Charles VII accentuated this trend.

Among the most unusual examples in this context are Anis Sorrell, mistress of the king in the form of the Virgin Mary on a painting executed between 1452 and 1455. In this painting, Sorel depicted her magnificent left breast, describing Christ as a child he did not care about very clearly.

Source image
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium

These developments did not escape the eyes of the Church and, after the "Protestant Reform" movement of 1517, prohibited the placing of religious paintings and works in places of worship.

Artists from Protestant countries reacted by depicting nudity through acts addressing non-religious and mythological themes. They met artists such as Lucas Carnach, who provided up to 76 works depicting Venus as the goddess of beauty among the Greeks.

"This has given artists the opportunity to address these issues," said Lucy Cheswell, deputy director of the Royal Academy of the Arts. "It was far from the religious sphere, which gave them enormous freedom."

In addition, naked women are often described as witches. This was intended to highlight the sexual seduction potential of these witches, which included men, as well as the need to control these abilities.

But this led to the intensification of the witchcraft campaign against witchcraft, which saw the execution of thousands of women. "Nudity is not strange or ugly," says Cheswell, "but it connects him to those demonic characters who are able to take a strong hold" on others.

Source image
National Galleries of Scotland

At that time, Italy was adapting – and at an accelerated pace – to classical themes as the centerpiece of painting and works of art, subjects raised and stimulated by the growing interest in poetry and art. literature the concerns and problems of man.

In this context, Georgi and Titan, two Venetian artists, have done beautiful works on nudity in a sensible way. But the obviousness of the slang of these paintings did not prevent them from often relying on the classic methods of painting the nude body, which allowed these painters to claim that their interest was focused on questions of intellectual and non-sexual dimensions.

As evidenced by the skill of the artist – as Gilles Berk says – is that his work is a material physical reaction on the part of his audience, "the feeling of sexual arousal provoked by a painting like Titan's "Venus of Urbino" bears witness to the ingenuity of this man ".

On the other hand, the influence of classical works showing naked bodies in Catholic religious art became increasingly controversial at that time. Mikelangelo, alongside religious and Christian thinkers who believe in the ideas of human philosophy centered on human value and efficiency, believe that the beautiful body symbolizes virtue, compassion and perfection of man .

But his attempts to revive and strengthen Christian art through the adoption of ancient pagan models in his representation of biblical figures in his work in the church of Sistina or Sistine – especially in the "Last Narrative" that he drew between 1536 and 1541 – went beyond what he could stand the church that is a lot. After Michelangelo's death, the genitals of these characters were covered with a cloth.

Source image
Alamy

Despite the commitment of the Church, the genius of Michelangelo has allowed nudity to be considered as the most beautiful artistic expression. After his artistic work at the Sistina church, everyone, Berk says, wants independent artists to paint paintings depicting naked bodies.

Over time, nudity may be largely related to the representation of the naked woman's body, but this does not negate the fact that the beauty of the composition of the man and woman was celebrated during two centuries by some of the greatest artists ever seen in the world.

The exhibition "Nudity in the Renaissance" takes place at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from March 3 to June 2, 2019.

You can read the original article on BBC Travel

—————————————

You can receive notifications on the most important topics after downloading the latest version of the BBC Arabic application to your mobile phone.