IN THE BEGINNING
Philae Temple, Aswan Egypt
And we begin at the beginning, with Egypt – but this is not art as we understand it – although we pretend it is – this is religion, magic & politics, set in stone, carving & fresco.
for more Egyptian Architecture see
ANCIENT GREECE –
THE CLASSIC NUDE
An art nude is a work of art that takes the naked human form as its dominant subject
The term is used for painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media.
In the tradition of Western art, nudity was common in the painting and sculpture of classical antiquity.In the Christian era, early artists who used nude models include Michelangelo, Botticelli and DaVinci.
Depictions of nudity refers to nudity in all the artistic disciplines including vernacular and historical depictions.
Nudity in art has generally reflected — with some exceptions — social standards of aesthetics and morality of their time in painting, sculpture and more recently in photography.Since prehistoric time, representations of the nude body has been a major theme in art.
Many cultures tolerate nudity in art more than actual nudity, with a different set of standards of what is acceptable. For example, even in a museum depicting nudity, nudity of a visitor is typically not accepted. On the other hand, child pornography laws often restrict depictions even more than the depicted acts (photographs of legal acts and even simple nudity may be illegal).
The arts of ancient Greece have exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture.
In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models.In the East, Alexander the Great’s conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in Greco-Buddhist art.
Following the Renaissance in Europe, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists, and well into the 19th century, the classical tradition derived from Greece dominated the art of the western world.
In the Classical period there was a revolution in Greek statuary
The Classical period saw changes in the style and function of sculpture. Poses became more naturalistic (see the Charioteer of Delphi for an example of the transition to more naturalistic sculpture), and the technical skill of Greek sculptors in depicting the human form in a variety of poses greatly increased.
From about 500 BC statues began to depict real people.
The statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton set up in Athens to mark the overthrow of the tyranny were said to be the first public monuments to actual people. At the same time sculpture and statues were put to wider uses.
The great temples of the Classical era such as the Parthenon in Athens, and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, required relief sculpture for decorative friezes, and sculpture in the round to fill the triangular fields of the pediments.
The difficult aesthetic and technical challenge stimulated much in the way of sculptural innovation. Unfortunately these works survive only in fragments, the most famous of which are the Parthenon Marbles, half of which are in the British Museum.
Funeral statuary evolved during this period from the rigid and impersonal kouros of the Archaic period to the highly personal family groups of the Classical period. These monuments are commonly found in the suburbs of Athens, which in ancient times were cemeteries on the outskirts of the city.
Although some of them depict “ideal” types—the mourning mother, the dutiful son—they increasingly depicted real people, typically showing the departed taking his dignified leave from his family. They are among the most intimate and affecting remains of the Ancient Greeks.
In the Classical period for the first time we know the names of individual sculptors.
Phidias oversaw the design and building of the Parthenon.
Praxiteles made the female nude respectable for the first time in the Late Classical period (mid 4th century): his Aphrodite of Knidos, which survives in copies, was said by Pliny to be the greatest statue in the world.
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THE RENNAISANCE MALE NUDE
(Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Rome)
(Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Rome)
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is particularly renowned for his use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses light and dark to achieve a 3-D effect.
Caravaggio breaks away from the tradition of symmetrical figures and detailed backgrounds. His figures do retain a traditional monumentality.
Caravaggio receives his first training in Milan, specializing in still-lives. Around 1592 he takes to Rome, switching his subject matter to street-life and young boys.
In 1595 Caravaggio’s talent catches the eye of cardinal Francesco Del Monte, who becomes his first patron. Caravaggio’s life is as turbulent as his personality.
In 1606 a bet over a game of tennis leads to an argument, at which point Caravaggio draws his sword and kills his opponent.
He flees to Naples, intending to take the long way home to Rome.
He dies before reaching Rome, probably of pneumonia, in Porto Ercole.
Several days after his death word arrives of papal absolution.
‘SELF PORTRAIT AS BACCHUS’
‘PORTRAT OF DEXTER FLETCHER’
(in the style of Caravaggio)
Andrea del Sarto – (1486 – 1531)
Andrea del Sarto (1486 – 1531) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early-Mannerism.
Though highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori (“without errors”), his renown was eclipsed after his untimely death by that of his contemporaries, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
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THE MALE NUDE IN 19th & 20th CENTURY ART
François-Xavier Fabre (1766–1837)
Nicolas-Guy Brenet (1728-1792)
Jacques-Louis David – 1748-1825
Jacques-Louis David (30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a highly influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era.
In the 1780s his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity toward a classical austerity and severity, heightened feeling chiming with the moral climate of the final years of the ancien régime.
David later became an active supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794), and was effectively a dictator of the arts under the French Republic.
Imprisoned after Robespierre’s fall from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his release, that of Napoleon I.
It was at this time that he developed his ‘Empire style’, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours.
David had a huge number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art of the early 19th century, especially academic Salon painting.
‘MARTYRDOM OF ST SEBASTIAN’
Francois Guillaume Menageot
‘IXION PRECIPITE DANS LES ENFERS’
‘THE TORTURE OF PROMETHEUS’
Christian Griepenkerl (1839 -1912)
‘JACOB WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL’ -1865
Hippolyte Flandrin – (1805-1864)
ACADEMIC STUDY OF NUDE WRESTLERS
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THE MALE NUDE IN CONTEMPORARY ART
Paintings and studies of the male nude have recently returned to favour, after being neglected during the period of abstract & non representational art.
Many artists, using both traditional techniques & the latest computer generated art, are now producing examples of the male nude which rival those of the 19th Century & the Renaissance periods.
André Durand (born Ottawa,Canada 1947) is a painter working in the European Hermetic tradition. He is influenced by artists such as Rubens, Titian, Michelangelo and Velázquez.
Although Durand is perhaps best known for his allegorical portraits, such as Princess Diana as Fortuna, he achieved international artistic acclaim for his official portraits of John Paul II (1983) and the Dalai Lama (1983, 1989).
Durand’s portrait of the Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen (1972) is one of the most popular portraits in London’s National Portrait Gallery.
In 1970 Durand painted a series of pictures inspired by the dancers of the Royal Ballet.
It is nevertheless Durand’s extraordinary mythological narratives that demonstrate his profound understanding of the myths and rituals of both Classical and Christian traditions, and these are an ever-present undercurrent of his work.
for more infomation about André Durand and his work go to :
Dionysus or Dionysos is the ancient Greek god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy, and was also the driving force behind Greek theater.This god who inspires joyful worship and ecstasy, festivals, and celebration is a major figure of Greek mythology and the religion of ancient Greece.
He is included as one of the twelve Olympians in some lists.
Dionysus is typical of the god of the epiphany, “the god that comes”.
He was also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia.
Hailed as an Asiatic foreigner, he was thought to have had strong ties to the East and to Ethiopia in the South.
He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one’s normal self, by madness, ecstasy or wine.
The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry.
In Greek mythology, Dionysus is made out to be a son of Zeus and the mortal Semele.
He is described as a beautiful young ephebe – teenage boy.
The retinue of Dionysus was called the thiasus and was composed chiefly of maenads and satyrs.Dionysus is a god of mystery religious rites.
In the Thracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox-skin, symbolizing new life.
His own rites, the Dionysian Mysteries practiced by maenads and others, were the most secret of all.
Contradictions in Dionysus’ origin suggest to some that we are dealing not with the historical memory of a cult that is foreign, but with a god in whom foreignness is inherent.
Clearly, Dionysus had been with the Greeks and their predecessors a long time, and yet always retained the feel of something alien and extatic.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Ancient Greek: “forethought”) is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius.
He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.
Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day.
His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with – or blamed for – playing a pivotal role in the early history of mankind.
A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, “swordsman”, from gladius, “sword”) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals.
Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the arena.
Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death.
Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered audiences an example of Rome’s martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim.
They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world.
In Greek mythology, (Greek: Νίκη “Victory”) was a goddess who personified victory throughout the ages of the ancient Greek culture.
She is known as the Winged Goddess of Victory.
The Roman equivalent was Victoria.Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water), and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (violence), and Zelus (Zeal).
Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon.
According to classical myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities.
Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.
This contemporary image is very unusual, int that Nike is depicted in masculine form, holding a palm of victory.
In Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens.
Although associated with various places, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa.
Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klyméne, -“Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled maid Clymene, daughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him a stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius and clever Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained Epimetheus.”
Hyginus emphasises the primordial nature of Atlas by making him the son of Aether and Gaia.
In contexts where a Titan and a Titaness are assigned each of the seven planetary powers, Atlas is paired with Phoebe and governs the moon.
He had three brothers — Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.Atlas continues to be a commonly used icon in western culture, as a symbol of strength or stoic endurance.
He is often shown kneeling on one knee while supporting an enormous round globe on his back and shoulders.
The globe originally represented the celestial sphere of ancient astronomy, rather than the earth.
The use of the term atlas as a name for collections of terrestrial maps and the modern understanding of the earth as a sphere have combined to inspire the many depictions of Atlas’ burden as the earth.
Attis was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian and Greek mythology.
His priests were eunuchs, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration.
The 19th-century identification with the name Atys encountered in Herodotus (i.34-45) as the historical name of the son of Croesus, as “Atys the sun god, slain by the boar’s tusk of winter”, and as a life-death-rebirth deity as described by James Frazer, are mistaken.
As Attis grew, his beauty was godlike, and Agdistis as Cybele, then fell in love with him.
But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king’s daughter.
According to some versions the King of Pessinos was Midas. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals.
Attis’ father-in-law-to-be, the king who was giving his daughter in marriage, followed suit, prefiguring the self-castrating corybantes who devoted themselves to Cybele.
But Agdistis repented and saw to it that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay.
Attis was reborn as an evergreen pine tree.
This rebirth was celebrated on 25 March – the festival of Hilaria.
‘Προμηθεύς’ – ( PROMETHEUS )
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Ancient Greek: for “forethought”), is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius.
He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.
Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day.
His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with – or blamed for – playing a pivotal role in the early history of mankind.
Saint Sebastian (died c. 288) was a Christian saint and martyr, who is said to have been killed during the Roman emperorDiocletian’s persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post and shot with arrows.
‘SAGITTARIUS – THE ARCHER’
In Greek mythology, Sagittarius is identified as a centaur: half human, half horse.
In some legends, the Centaur Chiron was the son of Philyra and Saturn, who was said to have changed himself into a horse to escape his jealous wife, Rhea. Chiron was eventually immortalised in the constellation of Centaurus or in some version, Sagittarius.
The arrow of this constellation points towards the star Antares, the “heart of the scorpion”.
‘Νάρκισσος’ – ( NARCISSUS )
Narcissus or Narkissos (Greek: Νάρκισσος), possibly derived from ναρκη (narke) meaning “sleep, numbness,” in Greek mythology was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty.
He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. As divine punishment he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool, not realizing it was merely an image, and he wasted away to death, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection.
Several versions of this myth have survived from ancient sources.
The classic version is by Ovid, found in book 3 of his Metamorphoses (completed 8 AD).
An earlier version ascribed to the poet Parthenius of Nicaea, composed around 50 BC, was recently rediscovered among the Oxyrhynchus papyri at Oxford.
Unlike Ovid’s version, this one ends with Narcissus committing suicide.
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie (1860–1937).
A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies, and pirates, and from time to time meeting ordinary children from the world outside.
In addition to two distinct works by Barrie, the character has been featured in a variety of media and merchandise, both adapting and expanding on Barrie’s works.
for more information about J M Barrie & Peter Pan go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18746429/So-Long-Ago-So-Clear
‘Ποσειδῶν’ – ( POSEIDON )
Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the sea, storms, and, as “Earth-Shaker,” of earthquakes in Greek mythology.
The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon.Linear B tablets show that Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades. Poseidon has many children.
There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for Athens to Athena.
‘عزرائيل’ – ( DARK ANGEL )
Azrael is the name of the Archangel of Death in some extrabiblical traditions.
He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology.
It is an English form of the Arabic name Azra’il or Azra’eil, the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in Islam and Sikhism, as well as some Hebrew lore.
The Qur’an never uses this name, referring instead toMalak al-Maut (which translates directly as angel of death).
It is also spelled Izrail, Azrin, Izrael, Azriel, Azrail, Ezraeil,Azraille, Azryel, or Ozryel. Chambers English dictionary uses the spelling Azrael.
The name literally means Whom God Helps.
‘STUDY FOR DIONYSUS – Διόνυσος’
Dionysus or Dionysos is the ancient Greek god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy, and was also the driving force behind Greek theater.
This god who inspires joyful worship and ecstasy, festivals, and celebration is a major figure of Greek mythology and the religion of ancient Greece.
He is included as one of the twelve Olympians in some lists.
Dionysus is typical of the god of the epiphany, “the god that comes”.
He was also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia.
Hailed as an Asiatic foreigner, he was thought to have had strong ties to the East and to Ethiopia in the South.
He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one’s normal self, by madness, ecstasy or wine.
The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry.
In Greek mythology, Dionysus is made out to be a son of Zeus and the mortal Semele.
He is described as a beautiful young ephebe – teenage boy.
The retinue of Dionysus was called the thiasus and was composed chiefly of maenads and satyrs.Dionysus is a god of mystery religious rites.
In the Thracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox-skin, symbolizing new life.
His own rites, the Dionysian Mysteries practiced by maenads and others, were the most secret of all.
Contradictions in Dionysus’ origin suggest to some that we are dealing not with the historical memory of a cult that is foreign, but with a god in whom foreignness is inherent.
Clearly, Dionysus had been with the Greeks and their predecessors a long time, and yet always retained the feel of something alien and extatic.
‘NUDE STUDY – FORESHORTENING’
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OTHER WEBSITES BY PETER CRAWFORD
GERMAN ART
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CONTEMPORARY DESIGN
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FRANK HAMPSON
THE LORD OF THE HARVEST
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OTTO LOHMULLER
GREAT ART - The Classic Male Nude 