This week we are excited to present you with a new Art History Lecture, the first in a three-part series on “The Nude” with Tom Richards, Assistant Director of The Florence Academy of Art.

In this series we will journey through drawings, prints, paintings, and sculptures that depict the nude form and delve deeply into their emotional, psychological, and energetic qualities through a study of context, technique, and composition.

This week’s lecture focuses predominately on sculptures by artists such as Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Donatello; as well as on paintings by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, Jusepe de Ribera and others; exploring how composition, visual language, and technique can elicit and portray intense emotion, strengthening the narrative of the artwork. With Tom Richards we explore these artworks, the cultural essence behind them, and discuss how and why we are able to read them and feel particular emotions based on the positioning and composition of the sculptures and paintings.

If you would like to further research the works from the lecture we have selected details on artists and artworks below, in the order presented in the lecture!