Hidden messages in female nudes of the 16th century

How can a rare drawing, Three Charities [charms] by Raphael, reveal the era's ideas about nudity, modesty, shame – and the genius of the artist.

By: Deborah Nicholls-Lee / BBC
Translation: Telegrafi.com

A moving crab and a mighty ostrich are among the 150 chalk, silverpoint and colored drawings featured in the exhibition To draw the Italian Renaissance, in the Royal Gallery at Buckingham Palace. Created by Renaissance giants such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino and Tiziano Vecellio, often as preparation for large paintings to be painted, these works are thought to entered the Royal Collection in the 30th century, under King Charles II [Charles], where some of them were gifts. For more than 1450 of these drawings, this is the first time they have ever been shown to the public. Rarely exhibited due to their fragility, these remarkable drawings – which have since come to be recognized as genuine works – form the most extensive exhibition of Italian drawings from 1600 to XNUMX ever organized in the Kingdom United.

Even rarer than these animal studies are drawings of female nudes, which are three times less than the abundance of male nudes. "The male body was the absolute focus of creativity," explained Renaissance historian Maya Corry, discussing the exhibit on the show Front row on BBC Radio 4 in October. "This is a Christian society and it is the male body, not the female body, that is made in the image of God." The Vitruvian Man da Vinci, with his ideal body proportions, is a clear example. The male body, she said, "was the closest to divine perfection" in those days.

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Also, there were practical issues. "Working in an art studio was a male environment and, in the absence of 'professional models', it was against all social norms for a woman to undress in front of a man other than her husband," explains Martin Clayton, curator of exhibition. It was male models who, for example, posed for Michelangelo when he needed a female figure. "This led to misunderstandings and distortions in the representations of the female body."

Raphael, however, was among the first to break with this tradition, sketching female bodies based on real-life models. "He was a very pragmatic artist, who used drawing brilliantly to tackle visual problems and to work very quickly from the first idea to the final composition." Clayton says. The drawings "allow us to see the artist's immediate reactions to the living figure as he explored poses, proportions, movement and anatomical detail." he adds. In Rafael's case, "his constant determination and openness to variations and possibilities is always evident."

Three Charities by Raphael (c. 1517-'18), a work executed in red chalk and bearing evidence of preliminary silver needle drawings, reveals the artist's genius at work. By moving a single model in three different poses, we see the careful process behind creating the vibrant fresco, The wedding of Cupid and Psyche, where these three figures are shown blessing the newly married couple, to grant them future happiness. Nudity, the complexity of the human body, constituted the ultimate test of a Renaissance artist's talent, while also satisfying the era's passion for science. The women's elegant biceps and quadriceps speak to the same interest in anatomy that we see in da Vinci's work, Leg muscles (c. 1510-'11), which is also on display. But there is a softness to the face and belly, something missing from the depictions of the men in the exhibition, as Head of a young man (c. 1590), showing vitality and attributed to Pietro Faccini, or Saint Jerome (c. 1580) strained of Passarotti [Bartolomeo Passarotti].

Like Michelangelo's David, sculpted a decade earlier, Raphael seems to follow an ideal—even when drawing from real life. In a letter said to have been written to his friend Baldassare Castiglione [Baldassare Castiglione], in 1514, he expresses the difficulty of grasping perfection in real life. "To paint a beautiful woman, I would have to see some beauties", he wrote. "But since good judgment and beautiful women are rare, I use an idea that occurs to me."

in Three Charities of Raphael, "beauty" is defined by smooth, flawless skin, breasts and buttocks as round as the apples held in the artist's 1504-1505 rendering of the myth. When Botticelli [Sandro Botticelli] made Carites the main element of his magnificent work spring, feminine softness was emphasized by wavy hair and sheer fabrics, while the post-Renaissance (c. 1670-'80) depiction by Liberi [Pietro Liberi] features the flushed cheeks and marble-like flesh we see in the work as Head of the Virgin of Baroçi (c. 1582), painted a century ago and also exhibited in the Royal Gallery.

The rarity of female painters and commissioned women during the Renaissance meant that works of art inevitably reflected the male gaze. "Perceptions of gender and the subordinate role of women in Renaissance culture were reflected in images, especially portraits, where male figures emphasized their social, political or professional role and status - the male ideal was a model of strength and mastery," explains the historian. and author Julia Biggs, Renaissance art history expert. "In contrast, the women who appeared in the portraits of this time were mainly shown in relation to the qualities of ideal female (youthful) beauty, virtue (modesty, humility, obedience) and motherhood".

As deities of grace, elegance, and beauty, the Charites (Euphrosina, Aglea, and Thalia), daughters of the Greek god Zeus, reflect a masculine view in their Renaissance depictions not only of what a woman should look like, but also of how to behave. They embody this vague concept of charm – closely associated with Raphael – that the commissioners wanted to attach to their image. It was a term associated with distinction, benevolence and love, while their circular dance suggests balance and harmony - key principles of Renaissance aesthetics. As a group, they combine a patriarchal lecture on female virtue with, perhaps unintentionally, a celebration of the female form and the bond between women.

At that time, female nudity had different meanings. On the one hand, Biggs tells the BBC, Three Charities "may have been part of the figurative use of 'virtuous nudity', where nakedness was 'indicative of sincerity and purity'". In other countries, however, female nudity was "associated with shame". In Masaccio's fresco, Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (c. 1424-27), only Eve, stigmatized as a sinner, covers her genitals, while Biggs notes that "as part of la scopa – the ritual humiliation of unfaithful women in Ferrara, Italy – the women were forced to run naked through the city”.

This female nudity was in marked contrast to the modest dress code of women in Renaissance Italy. "In public, most women would cover their bodies down to their ankles and cover their arms," ​​explains Biggs. Mythological and biblical scenes gave artists a pretext for undressing women and also satisfied, says Biggs, the desire of male patrons to display "erotic erudition" or perhaps to "honor their sexual power."

Even when the women are clothed, the exhibition Drawing the Italian Renaissance reflects the dual roles that were available to them, from seductress to work The Temptation of Saint Anthony (c. 1595) of Carracci [Annibale Carracci], to 13 Various Virgins by Michelangelo, Da Vinci and their contemporaries. However, the exhibition suggests that it is more than just seeing and enjoying the Renaissance with all its trappings and flaws. /Telegraph/