The Venus Pudica: How Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos Invented the Pose That Defined the Female Nude
Around 350 BCE, an Athenian sculptor named Praxiteles did something no Greek artist had dared. He carved a goddess, Aphrodite,
body in art
Caspar David Friedrich Was Born 252 Years Ago Today. He Turned His Back on the Nude and Changed How We See the Body.
Born Into the Age of the Naked Hero Caspar David Friedrich was born on September 5, 1774, in Greifswald, a
Oskar Schlemmer Was Born 138 Years Ago Today. He Turned the Nude Into Geometry and Changed Modern Art.
Oskar Schlemmer, born in Stuttgart on September 4, 1888, spent his working life asking one question: what happens when the
Susanna and the Elders: The Nude Painted to Be Watched, Until a Woman Painted Back
The story comes from the Book of Daniel. Susanna, a married woman of spotless reputation, bathes alone in her garden.
Henri Rousseau Died 116 Years Ago Today. He Painted the Nude as a Dream.
Henri Rousseau painted jungles he never saw, in a country he never left, from a mind that had never been
François Girardon Died 311 Years Ago Today. He Sculpted the Sun King’s Naked Majesty Into Marble.
On September 1, 1715, François Girardon died in Paris at eighty-seven. He had spent five decades giving Louis XIV’s Versailles
Charles Baudelaire Died 159 Years Ago Today. He Taught the World to See the Modern Body, and a Court Convicted Him for It.
Charles Baudelaire died on August 31, 1867, at the age of 46. The man who taught the modern world how
Ingres Was Born 246 Years Ago Today. He Made the Nude an Ideal, Then Gave It Desire.
On August 29, 1780, a boy was born in Montauban, in the south of France, who would spend eighty-six years
Edward Burne-Jones Was Born 193 Years Ago Today. His Phyllis and Demophoon Made the Victorian Nude Too Honest.
On August 28, 1833, Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, England. He became the most influential British artist of his
Frans Hals Died 360 Years Ago Today. He Made the Human Body Breathe on Canvas.
Three hundred and sixty years ago today, Frans Hals died in Haarlem. He was old, he was poor, and he