Nudity In The Kiss And Venus Of Willendorf

Have you ever wondered why artist use nudity in their creations? Through the centuries of art there has been countless representations of the human body. The body and its various uses have been used for generations dating back to the oldest art. During the Paleolithic era cave paintings were discovered of human hands that filled cave walls, giving the sense of existence. Using the human body brings life to an art piece, a way to communicate. So, why nudity? To justly study the reason artist explored nudity in their artwork, we need to explore artist and their work through history to truly understand what embodies.
Venus of Willendorf was formed 25,000 years ago and made of stone (Getlein, 2010). This depiction of the female form is one of
Removing distractions gives the artist the ability to focus on creating something with substance, and allows the viewer to perceive it precisely the same; no distractions. Auguste Rodin’s, The Kiss, created this amazing sculpture that tells an dumbfounding story of two lovers. Based upon Dante’s Divine Comedy the story of Paolo and Francesca, the inspiration of this piece of art is a steamy story. The two lovers were committing adultery in Italy during the 13th century. The sculpture is of the two of them embraced in a kiss as they sit nude upon a rock. The smooth texture of their bodies combined depicts the intimacy. The rock is the only prop that was used in this creation and was made invisible with a rougher texture. Nudity was vital in this depiction of Paolo and Francesca because it allows the viewer to be included in the beauty that was happening with the two. The story ends tragically. The kiss was said to have taken place right before Francesca’s husband, Gianciotto Malatesta, killed them both. The story behind this piece of art is vital in understanding the sculpture. However, had the story not been told the viewer would still get the since of romantic and intimacy between two