Heroic nudity
Heroic nudity or ideal nudity is a concept in
. The existence or place of the convention is the subject of scholarly argument.In
The convention
Nudity was often thought to be an important aspect of Greek civilization and was frequent in places such as gymnasiums and when competing in games.[1] At least by the Imperial period of Rome, this concept operated for women as well as for men, with females being portrayed through Venus and other goddesses.[2]
Particularly in Roman examples like the Tivoli General or Delos "Pseudo-Athlete", this could lead to an odd juxtaposition of a hyper-realistic portrait bust in the Roman style (warts-and-all for the men, or with an elaborate hairstyle for the women) with an idealized god-like body in the Greek style. Male genitalia explicitly were not depicted as overly well-endowed to separate a noble and modest facade from the connotation in Greek culture that larger endowments belonged to more primal and barbaric characteristics.[3]
As a concept, it has been modified since its inception, with other types of nudity now recognized in classical sculpture—e.g., the 'pathetic' ("of Pathos") nudity of brave but defeated barbarian enemies like the Dying Gaul.[4] Tonio Hölscher has rejected the concept entirely for Greek art of the 4th century BC and earlier. [citation needed]
Heroic nudity allowed Greek sculptors to show a subject's character more accurately, without the disguise or added context of clothing.[5]
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Arrival or departure of a young warrior or hero (maybe Theseus arriving at Athens and being recognized because of his sword by Aegeus). Apulian red-figured volute-krater, ca. 410–400 BC. From Ruvo (South Italy), British Museum.
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Prokrustes, Attic kylix, c. 440-430 BC, British Museum
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ANational Museum of Rome
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Roman statue with the head ofMarcellus(1st century CE, after a 5th-century BC Greek prototype)
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Fashionable Roman lady as Venus (MC245), Musei Capitolini
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Antonio Canova: Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker (1802–1806) - Napoléon en Mars désarmé et pacificateur, Apsley House, London
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Auguste Rodin's The Thinker, here displayed at the Musée Rodin in Paris, is a well known example of nude heroic sculpture of the early 20th century
See also
Notes
- ISBN 0500278768.
- ^ "Trajanic woman as Venus (Capitoline Museums)".
- ^ Spivey, Nigel. Understanding Greek Sculpture. p. 112.
- ^ Hallett 2005, p. 10.
- ^ Spivey, Nigel. Understanding Greek Sculpture (PDF). pp. 111–112.
References
- Hallett, Christopher H. (2005). The Roman Nude: Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 B.C.-A.D. 300. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-924049-4.
- Casana, Jesse (2007). "The Problem with S2CID 191411361.
- Osborne, Robin (1997). "Men Without Clothes: Heroic Nakedness and Greek Art". Gender & History. 9 (3): 504–528. S2CID 145382179.
- Stevenson, Tom (April 1998). "The 'Problem' with Nude Honorific Statuary and Portraits in Late Republican and Augustan Rome". Greece & Rome. 2. 45 (1). Cambridge University Press: 45–69. JSTOR 643207.