This lecture by Tom Richards, Assistant Director of  The Florence Academy of Art, focuses on the psychology of artworks depicting the human form without clothing, and touches on how the unclothed body has been culturally viewed in western art. Delving into the differences between how people have viewed the nude, be it antiquity, the Gothic era, the Renaissance, or the end of the 19th century, Tom explains how cultural and historical context helps to better understand these artworks. Guiding us through works by Ancient Greek and Roman sculptors, Rembrandt, Titian, Bernini, and many others, we study various proportional cannons and additionally touch on the complex and riveting relationship between the artist, subject, and viewer.

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!