Depictions of nudity

This article is about nudity in the arts and other visual media. For the scientific and cultural facts about human nudity, see Nudity.

Depictions of nudity include any images or performances of people without clothing. These images have been made throughout history, both in the arts and sciences. Nudity in real life is restricted in most societies, but visual images of nudity may serve recognized social purposes. In Western societies, these are art, erotic images, including pornography, and information or science. Any image not fitting into one of these functions may be misunderstood, leading to disagreements. One of these disagreements is the difference between artistic and erotic images.

Nudity in art

The human body was one of the first subjects of art, and has remained popular to the present. The traditional fine arts media include drawing, painting, and sculpture. Because they are made of durable materials such a stone, ceramics or metal, older sculptures have survived to the present. Drawings and paintings have survived only in caves or other places protected from the weather.

Sculptures

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  The Venus of Willendorf was made about 25.000 years ago
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  Michelangelo's David (1504)
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  Standing Woman (1932) by Gaston Lachaise

Paintings

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  Luncheon on the Grass by Édouard Manet (1863)
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  A Nude Boy on a Beach (1878) by John Singer Sargent

Nude children in art

See also: Jock Sturges and Julia Somerville

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  The Three Ages of Man (c. 1512–1514) by Titian
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  The Manneken Pis in Brussels, Belgium. The original bronze statue was created by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1619.
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  The Bathers (1889) by Henry Scott Tuke

Works of art, such as paintings, statues, or photographs have shown nude children, or nude children with nude adults. For most of this history, childhood nudity represented innocence, and could be shown anywhere. In recent years, showing nude children in photographs is seen by some as sexual. When photographs were taken to labs for processing, those taken by families showing small children naked were sometimes seen as child pornography by the police. When there is no sexual contact shown, charges have never been sustained. In May 2008, police in Sydney, Australia, raided an exhibition by the photographer Bill Henson. This exhibition showed images of naked adolescents. The raid was done on allegations of child pornography.

Nudity in photography

See the main article: Nude photography

Since the beginning of photography, people have taken photographs of nudity. At first, the photos imitated paintings to avoid censorship, or were sold as references for artists.

Photography as reference for other media

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  Photograph by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu, part of a series made with Eugène Delacroix
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  Odalisque (1857) by Eugène Delacroix (Oil on panel), a painting with similar pose

In the 20th century, photographers wanted to make photography respected as an art medium. As public nudity became accepted, photos could be taken in a variety of locations rather than only posed in a studio.

Artistic Nude Photography

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  Nude study by William Mortensen
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  Photography model posing on a beach
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  Woman with bodypaint

In addition to fine art, photography of nudity has also been glamorous, sexual and then pornographic.

Nudity in popular culture

As new media have appeared though history, the human body has been one of the most popular subjects.

Nudity in pop culture

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  Nude girl distributing flyers at Love Parade

Nudity on television

Many countries have made laws that should protect children from seeing sex scenes on television by accident. That way, such scenes may usually not be shown during the day. British TV must not show such scenes between 5.30am and 9pm. The time when content not suitable for children may be shown is called "watershed". The Broadcasting Code requires that "Nudity before the watershed must be justified by the context."

Nudity for advertising

Nudity is often used to draw the attention of customers to a given product. That way, nude people or people with very little clothing are often shown on covers of magazines, even if the content of the magazine has nothing to do with nudity. Naked people, sometimes in connection with body painting are used to distribute fliers at events.

This uses erotic stimuli, especially to people of the opposite sex. On the other hand, nudity seems to work all by itself in such contexts. Nudity in public places is rare, and people generally do not expect it. The more it is used however, the less it will act on people. At some point it will have become normal.

Nudity in live performances

Live performances

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  Tableau vivant, about 1910
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  Strip club in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Theatre

Nudity in Western theatre was once limited to models posing in imitation of works of fine art (called "tableau vivant"). Nude performers could not move while the curtain was open. The Windmill Theatre operated in Soho, London from 1932 to 1964, but could not compete after strip clubs were allowed.

Nudity in American theater began in 1968 with the opening of Hair on Broadway. Nudity on the American stage has become more frequent, but has remained controversial.

Dance

Nude ballet was accepted in Denmark in the 1970s, but performances by the Royal Danish Ballet in the United States were limited to New York City. Today, nudity has become one of the possible "costumes" for modern dance.

Erotic performances

Public performances that have the intent of arousing sexual interest have a long history, perhaps as long as prostitution. Modern striptease did not end with performers entirely nude until the twentieth century. In the 21st century, sex on stage is allowed in some countries.

Nude photography

See the main article: Nude photography

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  Photograph of the back of a woman with an hourglass figure (c. 1900)
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  Refracted Sunlight on Torso (1922) by Edward Weston
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  Virginia Biddle (1927) by Alfred Cheney Johnston
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  One of the many photographs of Fernande by Jean Agélou (1910s)

Photographic media may be used to create images of all types, artistic, erotic, educational and scientific.

Erotic images

See also: Pornography

Erotic Images

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  Erotic sculpture at Khajuraho Temple

Erotic images are those intended to arouse sexual interest.

Nudity in science and education

Scientific/Educational Images

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  Image from Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (1543)
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  Ethnographic photo, but modern background: Four Masai tribesmen, about 1900
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  Ethnographic photo: Woman in German East Africa, early 20th century
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  The Pioneer plaque

Images of the naked body are used to illustrate educational or scientific information.

In the European Renaissance artists performed there own dissections of the human body and drew illustrations.

In the 19th century, photographs of naked Indigenous peoples became popular in Europe. Most claimed to be scientific, or ethnographic images. Whatever the intent, they became commercial (or erotic) images. It is unclear which images were posed, rather than being of everyday attire.

The deep space probes Pioneer 10 (launched March 2, 1972) and 11 (launched April 5, 1973) each carried a metal sheet with a "message of peace" for extraterrestrials that might find them. Both are the same, and include line drawings of nude male and female humans. The male has a hand raised in greeting, although its meaning would not likely be clear.

Related pages

• Nudity
• Model (person)