Modern Male Nude ArtModern Male Nude Art tremendously exploded as Europe came out of the Gothic Period and into the Renaissance. At times the Church tried to prohibit depictions of male nudes, but the artists who were largely patronized by the princes of the Church were able to thwart these attempts through depicting Biblical figures and mythological figures in the nude. One of the pivotal points beginning this explosion was the discovery in 1511 of the Apollo Belvedere. This Roman copy of a Greek original amazed its discovers with the detail and obvious pride which was taken in the nude male form. The Modern Period can be divided into the following periods:The Renaissance (1341-1600)“Renaissance” is the French equivalent of the Italian word “rinascita” which means rebirth. It is that period, beginning in Italy, in which culture and civilization self-consciously sought to return to the values of the Classical World. It was a repudiation of what was seen as the barbarism which had swept over Europe since the Fall of Rome a thousand years before. The Renaissance began when Boccaccio described contemporary 14th century efforts to return to the Classical Age through styles in poetry. In 1550 the art historian Visari coined the term in application to all the cultural efforts to revive the culture of the Ancients. Voltaire, Michelet and Burckhardt further popularized the idea that the Renaissance was a watershed ending the Middle Ages and initiating the Modern Age. There was an expolosion in representation of Modern Male Nude Art. This was begun by Donatello and was followed dramatically by Leonardo da Vinci . Michelangelo , the master of the High Renaissance, gloried in Modern Male Nude Art and his near contemporary Il Sodoma followed as closely as he could against growing ecclesiastical opposition. Baccio Bandinelli continued the work as did Benevenuto Cellini and Agnolo Bronzino. El Greco continued the tradition, primarily in Spain though he was a native of Crete which had fallen to the Turks.
The Baroque (1600-1710)This period followed the Renaissance and was characterized by stylistic complexity and a desire to evoke emotions by appealing to the senses. Artists of the period utilized drama, grandeur, vitality, movement and a richness of texture to gain an intense emotional response from the viewer of the work. And this, of course, furthered the use of Modern Male Nude Art.The movement began in Rome as an artistic expression of the vigor of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The proselytizing self-confidence and emotional commitment of the religious movement soon was echoed in the passion of the Baroque artists. Hendrick Goltzius was one of the earliest of the Baroque artists and in Italy Annibale Carracci soon departed from the Renaissance style. The latter was soon followed by Caravaggio , Giovanni Baglioni and Guido Reni . Peter Paul Rubens in the Netherlands took on the intense emotionality of the Baroque. In France the Baroque was exemplified by the works of Nicolas Poussin , and in Germany the movement continued in the works of Johan Liss . Gianlorenzo Bernini kept the Baroque alive in Italy, as did Andrea Sacchi , Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano .
The Rococo Period (1710-1780)The Rococo Style succeeded the Baroque and was based in France and is generally associated with the reign of Louis XV. Society’s center shifted from the court to private salons during this period and in the salons personal amusement became the chief concern, rather than the formality and grandeur of the royal court. This naturally included Modern Male Nude Art. Jean Antoine Wetteau was one of the earliest of the Rococo Period.The term “rococo” comes from the French “rocaille”, a rock and sell garden ornamentation. The major themes were romance, mythology and fantasy. A feminine disposition towards play, grace and charm characterized rococo art. These themes can easily be seen in the works of Donato Creti and Pierre Subleyras. Neoclassicism (1770-1867)Neoclassical Art was an outgrowth of the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. Led by thinkers like Voltaire, the spirit of the era was a supreme confidence in the ability of the intellect to solve all the problems of the human condition. They sought further to free mankind from the traditional restrictions of religions and other forms of authority. This tradition furthered the development of Modern Male Nude Art. Neoclassical Art called the viewer to virtue and to relinquish the quest for joy. They drew examples from the Classical Pantheon of unselfish heroes. Jacques Louis David was leader of the movement and established a school to spread his ideas of Neoclassicism to younger artists. Among those younger French artists were Joseph Desire Court, Francois-Xavier Fabre, Hipplyte Flandrin, Girodet de Roucy-Trioson, Jean-Baptiste Regnault , and Henri Serrur .
In England similar thoughts led to a native version of Neoclassicism in the works of
William Blake
and
William Etty
. To some extent, they had been anticipated by the American artist
Benjamin West
. German Neoclassicism also existed and is represented by
Johan Nepomulk Schaller
and
Henry Fuseli
. The Dane
Berthel Thorvaldsen
exemplified Neoclassicism in his stunning sculptures as did
Antonio Canova
Berthel Thorvaldsen
in Italy.
Pelagio Palagi
was an oil and canvas artist of Neoclassicism in Italy while
Nikolai Ghe
continued the tradition in Russia.
Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1900)The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was formed in 1848 by Rossetti, Millais and Hunt in an effort to defeat the formula-driven art fostered by the Royal Academy in London. The academics derived their formulas from the Renaissance works of Raphael and these artists were revolting from those formulae. Though the Brotherhood ended within three years, the fostering of realism and a new lighter treatment of subjects spread through the art world. And this included Modern Male Nude Art. Two marvelous examples of this work are to be found in the masterpieces of William Adolphe Bouguereau and John William Waterhouse.These periods have rather arbitrary dates and often flowed one into the other. Some have a lesser or greater interest in the male nude form. They furthered the development of Modern Male Nude Art.
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