17 April,2009 09:03 AM IST | | The MiD Day Team
| The Cockfight | |
| By: Jean-Leon Gerome Drawn in: 1846 Now in the Musu00c3u00a9e d'Orsay, Paris, this courtship canvas dates back to a time when nudity was accepted openly in most social circles. It is set in the Bay of Naples, and depicts femininity in the form of fear, and manliness as an urge to conquer. | |
| Sleeping Venus | |
| By: Giorgione Drawn in: 1510 Now housed in Dresden, the work, with its innocent yet arousing rhythm of line and contour, chastens the sensuous richness of the presentment: the sweep of white drapery on which the goddess lies, and of glowing scenery that fills the space behind her. The nude is shrouded in sleep, spirited away from accessibility to her conscious expression. It is said the painter left this piece unfinished, and Titan later added Cupid to it. | |
| Ignudi By: Michelangelo Drawn in: 1508-1512 This series of 20 athletic nude males at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican depict several explicit poses of the male body, coming to be the ideal portrayal of the masculine form. Sacred texts say it stands for "the man is the measure of all things." | |
| La Toilette By: Pablo Picasso Drawn in: 1905-6 This oil on canvas creation depicts a mother preparing herself after a bath. Today, it is at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in New York. | |
| Danae By Gustav Klimt Painted in: 1907 The oil painting measures is currently housed within the Galerie Wu00c3u00bcrthle, in Vienna, Austria. Danau00c3u00ab was a popular subject in the early 1900s for many artists; she was used as the quintessential symbol of divine love and transcendence. While imprisoned by her father, King of Argos, in a tower of bronze, she was visited by Zeus, symbolised here as the golden rain flowing between her legs. Apparent from the subject's face, she is very aroused by the golden stream. Sometime after her celestial visitation she gave birth to a son, Perseus. | |
