Essay Sample on Nude Figure Art in Western Cultures: Meaning and Practices

Introduction

In the western's world of art, the figure without clothes is a standard feature. The condition of this feature in their culture is understandable since one can relate the many occasions that one is undress throughout their life cycle. However, this is a different case in the world of arts, the nude figures have a hidden meaning in terms of philosophical issues, and cultural practices of the concerned community. They held religious ceremonies annually and had different methods of pleasing their gods like votive offerings and animal sacrifice, which were the most common ways of glorifying their gods. This section seeks to address the connecting and contrasting ideas drawn from both the Praxiteles's first female nude sculptor and the Panther, a wild cat that is linked to the god of wine, Dionysus. Up to date, in the features of skyscrapers from the ancient Greek culture is existing to view and stands out a glorious and disquieting monument. Though the art of nude figures has been vocal in the western culture, this narrative will focus on artistic similarities and differences in innovations from the Renaissance and the consequent academic cultures and implications of the arts.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The roots of the female nude artistic have a diverse origin from that of males. The males were inspired by an individual who is perfect in athletics, which represented the former embodiment in the form of divinity in procreation. The culture of the nude female figure is evident in the early prehistoric eras, as well as in the ancient times, and was used to represent aspects of life such as fertility deities across the Near Eastern Ishtar (Corso, p28). For example, from the artistic work of the Praxiteles, Hermes provides care for what is currently the motherless Dionysos. Initially, Hermes was holding a bunch of grapes and used them to tease the young god of wine.

Similarly, Greek religious believes portrayed god an immortal being with all the human qualities. In the visual world of arts, the were created with complete social, physical aspects. Just like an average human being, the were moral and at times, immoral, and sometimes they would appear as beautiful, only, and other times as unjust and could cause pain (Petermandl, p183). From both pieces of art, it is evident the nude female figure appears in small but acts as the most crucial topic of the subject. The panel that separates the two handles is slim, created with a remarkable view of elegance figures, and were usually painted on flat house Ette.

Like the true nature of their gods, this could compare to the Praxiteles's nude figure, which meant to give its audience typical and essential features that harmoniously explained the essence of all forms of mysteries that are either inform of beauty or vain (Clauss, p15). The two masterpieces have significantly acknowledged the particular origin and ability possessed by humankind by expressing the nature of gods by human figures. In ancient Greek, religion was one of the most significant aspects of their daily lives. Their gods comprised of vast-ranging pantheons supreme religious structures, complex mythologies, influential cults, and ritual practices. Greece community was polytheistic, and the perceived their gods as a natural explanation of mysterious events that occurred in their history and present times

On the other hand, the nude human nude figures were planted in positions that would denote graveyards. The Greeks used structures that were above five feet in height. Thus they would correctly assume the characteristics of significant symbols. For example, it was used to show honor to the dead Athenians. However, the nude figure of Aphrodite did not show the nakedness of the human body but rather the several depictions that the goddess of antiquity fitted (Georgios, p169). It was natural for all the naked Aphorodites the figures were not designed in a manner that would conceal any human body features. They were not afraid or ashamed to display the bod parts for their goddess to gaze. In the Roman and Hellenistic eras, the Aphrodite emulated, but they stood either fully or partially covered with clothes. Praxiteles was not interested in paving ways for divine interventions in his figures. He was slightly interested in showing the creative side of the human race and the ability aspect of the beauty of humans that nature gives a man as a gift despite the troubling issues that they brought to man.

Since accounting for all the variations for the above pieces of art has proved to be contradicting in many aspects, an elemental composition can be drawn from the nude figure's implications in many aspects of life (Lindner, p12). As a visual subject, the Anadyomene was relevant for nearly a millennium in antiquity, from Apelles' painting at the end of the fourth century BCE until well into the Common Era. The narratives are united by a two-dimensional pictorial setup lend themselves to more expansive storytelling than two-dimensional representations. Whereas it can be confirmed beginning with the archaeological evidence that avails itself, until at least the fifth century CE, some examples may be even later developed in the future as the world grows and digs deeper into the Greek's ancient art world.

Work Cited

Camp II, John McKesson. "Excavations in the Athenian Agora, 2008-2012." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 84.3 (2015): 467-513.

Clauss, Manfred. The Roman cult of Mithras: the god and his mysteries. Routledge, 2017.

Corso, Antonio. "Observations concerning a new book about Praxiteles." Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 69.1 (2018): 207-210.

Deligiannakis, Georgios. "Religious Viewing of Sculptural Images of Gods in the World of Late Antiquity: From Dio Chrysostom to Damaskios." Journal of Late Antiquity 8.1 (2015): 168-194.

Lindner, Molly. Portraits of the Vestal virgins, priestesses of ancient Rome. University of Michigan Press, 2015.

Petermandl, Werner. "The Introduction of Athletic Nudity-Fact or Fiction?." Nikephoros-Zeitschrift fur Sport und Kultur im Altertum: 27. Jahrgang 2014 27 (2019): 181-197.