![]() The Greek word Gymnasium itself means “place to be naked.”Īncient Spartans were deliberately kept naked since birth to make them aware of their physical appearance and defects. Nudity was considered normal and often encouraged in Greece and Rome in the context of public bathing and competition. The moment carved by Myron is the perfect example of symmetry, harmony, and momentum. One such masterpiece is the ‘Discobolus’ of Myron, a classical Greek sculpture of a naked young athlete. The same style or theme was seen in the biblical paintings depicting the creation of the first human beings, Adam and Eve.Īpart from the Gods, art was also used to portray Athletes, competitors, and Olympic performers. Let’s take the example of ‘Danae’ who is depicted naked in the painting, meeting her lover Zeus who comes in the form of golden showers and impregnates her. These paintings, sculptures were not only the artist’s subject of antiquity but rose as a genre of an era used and reused over the centuries to depict many Gods and Goddesses. Myths can be truthful or sometimes over elaborative or could be used as an allegory to establish modern concepts of social behavior and more importantly, to teach. The Abduction of Daughters of King Leucippus, by Peter Paul Rubens - The Bridgeman Art Library, Object 33380, Public Domain, Myths can arise as the sacred narrative to how mankind associates their present form with past events. Like Painting of Rubens, depicting the abduction and rape of the ‘ Daughters of Leucippus.’ This mythical tale was considered by the artist as an “ideology in a narrative form,” to describe much complex meaning. The illustration of naked Gods, Goddesses, and Olympic athletes has been the principal subject for the portrayal of aesthetic beauty and mythology to convey the metaphorical meanings. Nudity is much more than just sex and pornography. But what caterpillar calls the end, the world calls a butterfly. ![]() ![]() Modern-day, nudity is more likely to be bounded by the concept of sexual desire. This was perhaps the blend of both civilizations giving birth to a new adaptation of Greco-Roman mythology. Her Greek counterpart Aphrodite was later adapted by Romans and was used to symbolize prosperity, sexual desire, and love. For example, the Goddess Venus who is the symbol of love, compassion, sexuality, and fertility is central to the ancient Roman culture. The male and female bodies have been equally used as an artist’s tool to represent the social standards of the time and also the aesthetics. In Roman and Greek mythology, nudity is associated with a sense of morality and modesty of both genders. Put clothes on the body, and the mind will hardly be able to capture the face of reality, the artist wants to convey. Such themes of paintings can only be relatable if it was stripped of any kind of camouflage that’s irrelevant to the idea intended. Sometimes nudity is used as a theme for a specific period, era or to represent mythological events. Illustration of the naked human body in art is a way to convey metaphorical and multifaced concepts to the modern world. We can understand this by looking at the prehistoric cave paintings, the bearer of the past legacy which led to the discoveries of many ancient eras. Since the very beginning, even before the establishment of the great civilizations, the human body has been used as a medium to convey ideas, stories, and thoughts. The 1879 marble sculpture ‘Prometheus Bound And The Oceanids,’ by Eduard Muller.
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