The period of the Renaissance (or Revival), which I wrote about in my previous text, is definitely powerful, but needs some clarification. What was the most powerful shift in art during this period and thanks to whom?
Having given the universe the great artists Leonardo and Michelangelo: it was the Italians, without suspecting it, who gave the second birth of nuditè. Moreover, they can be considered the authors of new canons of idealization of physical beauty. And in general, the Baroque period would never have come if it were not for the experiments of Italian Renaissance artists with physicality in art.
I will try to present the arguments I found.
The bodies in Michelangelo’s works are hyper-naturalistic, which leaves no doubt. – Real models posed for the sculptor. And the dominance of masculinity is proof of the master’s interest in male nudity.
The great Leonardo went even further. He took advantage of the indisputability of his genius. There is no doubt that he exclusively used living models instead of conventional models (of ancient sculptures). But let’s also assume that he was interested in anatomy and studied the details of the body of the dead. Thanks to this scientific approach, his paintings show more real details of the human body.
It is certain that these two geniuses are an exception to the generally accepted norms in art. And the detail of the human body in their works could be an internal desire to “get to” the details of the “forbidden fruit”? Speaking in modern language, Leonardo and Michelangelo are great experimenters in the art of depicting the human body. And what about other artists of the Italian Renaissance?
As an example, we can consider the classic work “Birth of Venus” with a religious content. But is it really classical and traditional for the Renaissance? If you look closely, you can see how Botticelli demonstrates a bold resistance to the system of prohibitions, using symbolic codes. First, Ancient Venus, showing nudity in his painting, is the main image placed in the very center of the canvas. That is, it is a separate naked object brought to the fore and creating a conflict of religious interests. Secondly, the Ancient Goddess of love from the very beginning is a complete exception to Christian morality. The concept of Love in Christian dogmas has nothing to do with physicality. But Botticelli went even further. It depicts Venus on the background of a sea shell – a symbol of female sexuality. That cannot be interpreted otherwise as a desire to give the Goddess her sacred meaning – a symbol of sexuality and bodily beauty.
Most experts believe that Botticelli painted his Venus not from a real woman, but from an ancient statue. But, if we take into account the complete lack of geometric proportions characteristic of Antiquity, we can be inclined to the opposite opinion: Venus is an image of a real girl. Botticelli simply used the technique of imitation, copying the pose of the Ancient Prototype, to hide his frank feelings and sexual desire for his favorite model. Who was this girl? Many versions converge on Simonetta Vespucci, whose face appears on several of his canvases. Including in the paintings “Three Graces” and “Spring”, which can also be considered a confirmation of my opinion about Botticelli’s special love for the symbolism of female nude images and personal feelings for Simonetta Vespucci.
In my opinion, his Venus is the first overtly nude image with undisguised sexual overtones: a symbol of physiological desire. Even the presence in the picture of Zephyr in the arms of his wife and Gracia, who is in a hurry to cover the newborn with a veil, is unable to shift attention from the nudity of the female figure. I also believe that with The Birth of Venus, Botticelli started a new sexual history of female nudity. The history of the conquest of the palm of primacy by the female body.
It is not difficult to notice that after his Venus, Italian artists began to depart from tradition by changing poses and angles. Of which the most daring is the image of women in lying poses. And it has nothing to do with the lying position of the male body. Because a lying man: exhausted from the struggle symbolizes exclusively heroic pathos. The reclining female, on the contrary, is a symbol of sexuality and insecurity of beauty, which was oppressed by Christian dogmas for many centuries.
In general terms, the unconditional primacy of the Italians in the Renaissance can be attributed to:
– Creation of the first art Academies (in the 15th century).
– Official start of using real models instead of mockups.
– The first female art: which appeared in the 16th century. (Artemisia Gentileschi is the author of the most erotic image “Suzanna and the Elders” and “Danaia”).
– The first manifestations of natural diversity in the depiction of physicality (the shocking appearance of the “imperfect body”).
– The first manifestations of female nuditè capturing the Palme d’Or.
– The birth of the next bright Baroque era, which is the result of the stage of the Italian Renaissance in the 17th century (the masterpieces created by the Italian Bernini resemble the experimental examples of the Renaissance masters).
This list can be continued: but even a few points demonstrate the invaluable contribution of Italians to the creation of new ideals of corporeality, and experiments with female nuditè, which provoked a revolutionary shift in the gender position of female corporeality in art.
Therefore, I will not specify the Italian Baroque. (the masterpieces of which can be seen in the excellent BBC series “From St. Peter’s Cathedral to St. Paul’s Cathedral” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFCbU7LNKe4 ). In my opinion, this period is a continuation of the experiments of the Great Italians of the Renaissance. Undoubtedly, Baroque made a powerful new revolution in approaches to the image of the body. Male nudity in this period began to show greater freedom and independence and broke the generally accepted age standards of ideal proportions. (For example, the hyper-naturalness of the muscular structure in Hendrik Goltzius Farnese’s “Hercules”. Or the dualistic contradiction between the strength of an athletic body, which is at the same time weak in the face of circumstances. What can be seen in the naked figure of Guercino’s “Samson”).
But the most important achievement is that the female body (during the 17th century) clearly moved to a dominant position, which it does not leave until today. And all this definitely demonstrates the consistent result of the innovation of the artists of the Italian Renaissance.
The Italian “experiments” definitely changed the perspective and a new look at physicality. Thanks to them, the world saw the real diverse beauty of the body – natural and not always ideal. And although the classical beauty of antiquity remained visible for a long time, even in the subjects of new “baroque” paintings and sculptures, it ceased to be traditional in art. And such a result, after almost 17 centuries, is a REVOLUTION IN THE IMAGE OF THE HUMAN BODY, which has experienced the longest period of restrictions and prohibitions since Antiquity.
Ironically, human nudity lost its freedom after the fall of Rome (that is, Italian civilization) and was resuscitated thanks to the Italian Renaissance! But how it happened that after a couple of centuries, Italian art would cede primacy to French art, I will try to trace in the following essays.