Paintings of nude females were once a common genre in art. Even paintings that depicted women dressed in clothes were often based on nude models.
In the Renaissance, artists shifted from idealized nudes to erotic images of seductive women. Despite the erotic imagery, these works still had a moral and religious context.
Danae by Rembrandt van Rijn
This masterpiece by the famous Dutch painter is one of his best-known pieces. It depicts Danae, a figure from Greek mythology who welcomes Zeus as he showers her with gold rain. Its sensuous appeal allures the viewer and showcases Rembrandt’s ability to capture human beauty.
This painting is housed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was painted in 1636 and later extensively reworked by the artist. This reworking changed the positions of Danae’s head, outstretched arm and legs. Despite being damaged, this is still one of the finest examples of Rembrandt’s work.
The painting is a great example of his mastery of chiaroscuro and is notable for the way in which its light plays on Danae’s skin. The golden highlights on her body and the glistening metal elements of the room add to the allure of this work. It also features a crying cupid whose hands are bound, perhaps suggesting an obstacle to her happiness.
Interestingly, this painting was reworked again by Rembrandt in the 17th century. In this version, the figure of Danae is less prominent and the face of her husband has been added. The composition has also been shifted to the right. This shift makes the painting more dramatic and exciting, which is something Rembrandt wanted.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this painting is that it was almost destroyed in 1985. During this incident, a man who was either deranged or bitter attacked the piece. He poured sulfuric acid over the painting, which caused it to bubble and change color. This vandalization was a major blow to the reputation of the Hermitage Museum.
Fortunately, the painting was restored shortly after. It was first washed with water to stop the acid action, then treated with a special compound of glue and honey to prevent its layers from peeling. The process took 12 years and the painting is now protected by armored glass to prevent further acts of vandalism. Rembrandt’s Danae is a wonderful example of how he could make figures seem more lifelike than other painters of his time.
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus
In 1484, Botticelli was 40 years old and painting for Florence’s ruling family, the Medici. He churned out portraits, religious scenes, and secular-mythological pictures for them. In this piece, the artist chose to portray Venus—a nymph associated with love and beauty—and her parents in a scene from Roman mythology. The picture was painted with tempera on canvas, a less expensive material that was ideal for secular subjects and depictions of pagan figures. Botticelli contoured the body of Venus, highlighting her curves. He also modeled her stance after sculptures like the Venus de Medici or the Aphrodite of Knidos, one of the first to show a fully-naked female figure. This blatant depiction of nudity was highly innovative in its day. Most Renaissance paintings used Christian themes and reserved nude women for depictions of shame (like Eve’s fall into sin).
While the bodies of the other figures in this painting aren’t fully naked, their skin is incredibly smooth. The colors also blend seamlessly, with cool blues and shades of green from the sky and water, complimenting the warmer skin tones in the other figures’ drapery. Even the naked bodies are perfectly shaped and idealized—the hands curve in a natural way, their faces evoking innocence rather than lust.
The radiance in Venus’s face also stands out. Her eyes aren’t open, but her mouth curves gently into a smile. It’s a depiction of a goddess who isn’t just physically beautiful, but spiritually beautiful as well.
It’s easy to see why this painting is recognized the world over. Botticelli reintroduced the unclothed female body to Western art, and the movement he started would continue through all major movements from Art Nouveau to Post-Impressionism. Despite its long history, it’s easy to forget how groundbreaking this piece was in its time. Today, the image of Venus’s ethereal beauty is so familiar that it can be easy to overlook how innovative and daring it was in its own day. In this painting, Botticelli transformed the nude body from a source of shame to a symbol of grace, sensuality, and power.
Titian’s The Cleopatra
In a painting commissioned by the wealthy patrician Guidobaldo della Rovere, Titian created an alluring depiction of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, arriving in Cilicia aboard her magnificent ship. The composition is a feast for the eyes, with her nakedness and lustrous skin capturing the attention of the viewer. The painting was an enormous success, and Titian’s reputation as a master of nude female figures was secured.
The Danae in the Uffizi and Woman with a Mirror in the Louvre are examples of Titian’s half-length nude paintings, or ‘poesie’, as he called them. This is one of the many mythological pictures he produced during this period. Titian drew inspiration from the Bible and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, particularly tales of love, war and death.
The legend goes that when Giorgione was struck down by the plague, he left his Sleeping Venus unfinished. A local Venetian art lover wrote 15 years later that Titian stepped in to complete the picture, adding much of the background and fabrics and even the cupid at her feet.
Titian’s choice of model, Angela Zaffetta, was a good one. She was a popular actress of the time and had the physique to convey the goddess’s sexy allure. The dazzling necklace and the pearls in her ears – an indication of her wealth and status – add to the allure.
There’s a sense of movement to this depiction of Cleopatra, which adds to its power and drama. The tiger, symbolizing the loss of power, is an effective accompaniment, as are the tones of red, which suggest anger and lust for her lost lover.
Some scholars have speculated that Titian recycled elements of Giorgione’s background for the Sleeping Venus in this Cleopatra, partly out of convenience and partly to lay claim to those areas of the picture that weren’t his own invention. That’s a tempting theory, but the received wisdom is that he contributed almost equal amounts to both pictures. For the connoisseur, it’s a treat to see two titanic Renaissance talents on one canvas, and it gratifies a desire similar to that of football fans who’d pay top dollar to see Messi and Maradona play together.
Edouard Manet’s Olympia
A shocking painting that sparked controversy when it was first exhibited, Manet’s Olympia represents an important step towards modernism in art. It features a reclining Parisian prostitute and challenges the viewer with her calculating gaze. Manet wanted to portray a woman that was true to life and not the mythological nymphs or goddesses portrayed in traditional art. By depicting a real-life prostitute, Manet defied tradition and paved the way for future artists to do so as well.
The reclining woman, modelled on Victorine Meurent, is naked and confidently looks down at the viewer. She wears a black ribbon around her neck, gold bracelet on her wrist, Louis XV slippers and silk flower in her hair, all symbols of wealth and sensuality. She’s a high-class prostitute and she’s not ashamed of her body. Instead she offers it as a service to her clients.
Manet drew inspiration from Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Francisco Goya’s Maja Desnuda, but he aimed to make his work more realistic than these. In this respect, he was successful. His rough brushwork and unflattering lighting make the female figure stand out, creating a stark contrast with her surroundings. In addition, he didn’t use linear perspective and the painting lacks depth, further emphasizing the realness of the female body.
Another feature that set this painting apart from its predecessors was the presence of a black cat. In the past, female nudes were often depicted with animals like dogs that symbolized fidelity, but Manet chose to show a black cat that doesn’t look at the reclining woman. This suggests that he wants to show that she doesn’t need fidelity and is free to pursue her sexual desires.
The provocative scene is not only a commentary on the sex industry but also on society’s attitudes towards the female body and its sexuality. Until the nineteenth century, it was considered acceptable to depict a nude female as long as she was a classical goddess or mythological nymph. But the erotically charged image of Olympia shows that it was time to change those attitudes.