You will probably have noticed that nude art has been used in the western art world for thousands of years. But why are nude paintings has been so popular in art for many years? We will tell you more about this in this blog!
The first naked art
One of the oldest, and also smallest visual arts is the small statuette called Venus of Willendorf, found in Austria. It is the first Venus figurine ever found and dates back to about 30-25.000 BC. Not much is known about the statue, but it does have some very remarkable feminine features. The full breasts, big belly, thighs and buttocks show that the woman is probably heavily pregnant and almost certainly symbolizes fertility.
Thousands of years ago, in Egypt and Babylonia, visual arts to find. This works nudity used to indicate status. Servants were often depicted naked or scantily clad, while the elite could be recognized by wearing clothes.
If we look at the Greek art, is also here the use of nudity characteristic, especially the masculine naked. This is because it is masculine naked was used to depict the ideal human being. The reason that you often see women with clothes, is because the ancient Greeks believed that the man was the most complete human being. Women, on the other hand, were less ideal people, so they were depicted with clothing. 
naked art in later times
In the Middle Ages, Christianity was one of the largest religions in the West. Within this belief, man would not allow himself to be seduced by the earthly, but rather be led by heaven. Because sexuality is so earthly, it was also considered something wrong. You can see this in the art: genitals were covered and sexuality was more or less forbidden.
This changed to some extent in the Renaissance. While the focus during the Middle Ages was on religion and the afterlife, in the Renaissance people rediscovered the beauty of the world and the human body. Human anatomy was studied during this period, and it was found that the skeleton had an influence on the outward shape of the body. As a result, man got in nude paintings much more realistic.
Visual arts At this time
Visual arts is still a frequently recurring topic today. Depicting man in its purest form, with the body itself as a als artwork is considered to. Nudity can be depicted to shock, provoke reactions or simply to show the beauty of the human body.
“What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?”
- Michelangelo