Greek nude statues

When the British Museum opens its blockbuster exhibition of Greek sculpture this spring, curators believe visitors may have one burning question. While the neighbouring Egyptian and Assyrian galleries are filled with fully clothed gods and mortals, the ancient Greeks chose to depict the human body in its natural state. The Egyptians, the Persians and the Assyrians found it shameful. It was not about representing the literal world, but a world which was mythologised. They are victims of war, stripped and flayed alive. The Greeks found such representations as unappealing as we do.

Male nudes are the norm in Greek art , even though historians have stated that ancient Greeks kept their clothes on for the most part. New research suggests that art might have been imitating life more closely than previously thought. Nudity was a costume used by artists to depict various roles of men, ranging from heroicism and status to defeat. Hurwit's newly published research shows that the Greeks did walk around in the buff in some situations.

Copy of work attributed to Polykleitos. Jean Sorabella Independent Scholar. Figures with no clothes are peculiarly common in the art of the Western world. This situation might seem perfectly natural when one considers how frequent the state of undress is in every human life, from birth to the bath to the boudoir. In art, however, naked figures relate very little to these humble conditions and instead reflect a very complex set of formal ideals, philosophical concerns, and cultural traditions.

Period: Archaic. Date: ca. Culture: Greek, Attic. Medium: Marble, Naxian.