How to Worship the Female Form
Lorna Ivey
Humanities 1101
18 February 2013
How to Worship the Female Form Throughout time people have worshiped and praised the female form. Whether it was for the sheer beauty of reproduction and fertility, or beauty in its most vain form the female form has been celebrated. However, we haven’t always depicted famous women the same way throughout history. Sometimes we see the Virgin Mary dignified in beautiful clothing and sometimes we see Venus in all of her naked glory, but we admire them just the same. But in what form do we accept them more? In Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned the Virgin Mary is shown holding the Christ Child while Saints look on. This Italian work of art what very characteristic of the Renaissance and a more naturalist approach. This strayed from the heavily gothic style of the 14th and 15th century. We can also see one of the first true uses of 3D painting and shading that really brings the Virgin Mary to life. She is made regal by her size in relation to everyone else, her style of clothing and their rich colors and the fact that she is literally on a pedestal. We appreciate her for her contribution to religion as the mother of Christ, not her actual form and beauty as Aphrodite was viewed. When you look at the sculpture of Aphrodite, the first thing that is noticed is obviously her nakedness. Even though she doesn’t have a stitch of clothing on the Greeks had a beautiful way of making her seem modest with the clever placement of her hand and a soft and serene expression on her face. The Hellenic era of art was known to express a woman’s beauty and fertility through a demure form of nudes with grace. Her body is bent in a contrapposto-type position showing a more realistic image, an innovation at the time.
Humanities 1101
18 February 2013
How to Worship the Female Form Throughout time people have worshiped and praised the female form. Whether it was for the sheer beauty of reproduction and fertility, or beauty in its most vain form the female form has been celebrated. However, we haven’t always depicted famous women the same way throughout history. Sometimes we see the Virgin Mary dignified in beautiful clothing and sometimes we see Venus in all of her naked glory, but we admire them just the same. But in what form do we accept them more? In Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned the Virgin Mary is shown holding the Christ Child while Saints look on. This Italian work of art what very characteristic of the Renaissance and a more naturalist approach. This strayed from the heavily gothic style of the 14th and 15th century. We can also see one of the first true uses of 3D painting and shading that really brings the Virgin Mary to life. She is made regal by her size in relation to everyone else, her style of clothing and their rich colors and the fact that she is literally on a pedestal. We appreciate her for her contribution to religion as the mother of Christ, not her actual form and beauty as Aphrodite was viewed. When you look at the sculpture of Aphrodite, the first thing that is noticed is obviously her nakedness. Even though she doesn’t have a stitch of clothing on the Greeks had a beautiful way of making her seem modest with the clever placement of her hand and a soft and serene expression on her face. The Hellenic era of art was known to express a woman’s beauty and fertility through a demure form of nudes with grace. Her body is bent in a contrapposto-type position showing a more realistic image, an innovation at the time.