Mantegna was fascinated by perspective. His radical foreshortening and realism focus attention on Christ’s wounds. Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
His nudity references classical antiquity, but David embodies the ideals and concerns of 15th-century Florence. Donatello, David by Dr. Heather Graham
"He has clarity in his humanness, in his present-ness: ‘I'm here, right now, and not for long.’" Wangechi Mutu on Egon Schiele by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The female nude emerged as a genre in the Renaissance. Titian, Venus of Urbino by Dr. James R. Jewitt
Weems confronts identity, family, and the myth of home in this iconic series of photographs. Carrie Mae Weems, Kitchen Table Series by Lauren Haynes, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Dr. Steven Zucker
Does a statue need to include arms or a head to be considered complete? Rodin clearly doesn’t think so. Auguste Rodin, The Walking Man by Elisabeth Rowney
Dumas paints from photographs, and deliberately makes her pictures strange, unsettling, and ugly. Marlene Dumas, Models by Dr. Thomas Folland
What detail! Dürer studied the human body obsessively and spent four years working on this print. It shows. Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This bronze god sank to the bottom of the sea where he sat for millennia, but who is he and what can he tell us? Artemision Zeus or Poseidon by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
“Stay and mourn at the monument of dead Kroisos, who raging Ares slew as he fought in the front ranks.” Anavysos Kouros by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Compare this off-balance image of the goddess of victory to earlier classical sculpture. Nike Adjusting Her Sandal, Temple of Athena ... by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Following war with the Persians, this highly naturalistic sculpture was buried out of respect. Kritios Boy by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
The myth is ancient, but these figures couldn’t be closer. Rubens’s virtuoso brushwork and color are on display. Peter Paul Rubens, The Rape of the ... by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Part man, part goat, this companion of the god of wine relaxes after a night of drinking. Barberini Faun by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Look closely to see bloody wounds and a lifetime of scars on this defeated athlete. Apollonius, Boxer at Rest (or The Seated ... by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
One of the leaders of Impressionism turns his back on the movement and attempts to reclaim the classical nude. Auguste Renoir, The Large Bathers by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Sherman creates a series of film stills starring herself—but there is no film. Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21 by Dr. Shana Gallagher-Lindsay and Dr. Beth Harris
The body’s expressive contortions reflect sculptural tradition, but Schiele used it to express the interior self. Egon Schiele, Seated Male Nude (Self-Portrait) by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
“Wearing” would be much too strong a word for this woman’s relationship to her shirt. Amedeo Modigliani, Young Woman in a Shirt by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Freud’s nude isn’t the idealized, horizontal beauty of previous centuries, but a forthright, vertical one. Lucian Freud, Standing by the Rags by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker