The historical portrayal of nudity in Western art has been a recurring dialogue that began in early civilization and has transformed and portrayed in modern and classical art today. Nancy Yakimoksi explores the relationship between early Renaissance nudity and sexual attraction and how these progressive topics contradict with the religious ideals of the fourteenth and fifteenth century ideals. “The Virgins Peculiar Breast: Negotiating Nudity in Devotional Painting” analyzes the diverse social, political, cultural and religious aspects of paintings such as Madonna Lactans and the portrayal of nudity in various representations of art seen throughout Western Europe. Yakimoski is a renowned professor at Camosun College in British Columbia who explores portrayals of the female body in diverse works from a plethora of artists. Madonna Lactans differs in style from the normally accepted religious traditions and depicts a religious figure in a compromise and controversial action. Challenging these traditional religious norms within nudity, Yakimiski utilizes various examples of devotional paintings to illustrate how culture can define nudity differently in social versus religious contexts while working as an expression of progressive social movements. “Sexual Relations In Renaissance Europe” expands on the mutual claim stated by both authors; sexuality has been continually reshaped by the changing nature of the economy, the family, and politics. 

Within ‘The Virgins Peculiar Breast” the portrayal of Mary with a “denaturalized” and “disembodied” breast shows the evident contrast of nudity in a religious perspective and how the breast can be a non-sexual part of a female body (Yakimoski). The focus on the ways the virgins breast and breast milk reflect contemporary religious messages and how nudity was an issue in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The author adds that “another way to negotiate the various demands arising from nudity in religious art was to complicate or somehow impede potential erotic readings by downplaying or diverting a voyeuristic gaze” (Yakimoski). This furthers this idea by showing how artists were skeptical of allowing female nudity within their works. Artist would often rearrange scenes in their artwork to hide nudity that was already naturally there. The stylistic shift to naturalism is shown as the main reason for the sexually explicit art portrayed within these religious paintings. During this time period, many artists began to challenge religion within their art. This furthered much uncertainty within many religious communities. However, the author suggests that much of this uncertainty may be brought about due to “the interplay between representation and spectatorship” (Yakimoski). In other words, the author is suggesting that the issue lies with the viewer and not the creator. Society at the time was unwilling to accept this idea of non-offensive nudity, while artist on the other hand were centuries ahead in their thinking. The debate over nudity in religious works raises many ethical questions that changed the style of painting throughout the fifteenth century. Yakimoksi offers a solution to “de-sexualizing” nudity within future works of art while still being able to convey the appropriate religious message. By merging theories of meaning with history and culture this essay provides an analysis of Renaissance devotional paintings and the sexuality poetically corrupting the tradition of this time period. This article focuses on the history and culture as a way to support the claim that sexuality challenges religious nature and traditional value. The factual information provided on sexuality during the peak of the Renaissance give insight on the importance of artwork to speak out on political and religious topics. 

Nudity and the human body are commonly seen in religious texts and works of art such as statues and paintings from the beginning of time in a variety of cultures. Yakimoksi shows how sexuality was portrayed within religious artwork and how the blatant nudity is offensive to some religious beliefs. In many cultures, nudity is highly frowned upon and is reserved strictly for a married man and women. Many artists value the human body and use it as inspiration for their painting in a non-sexual manner that portrays the anatomy of the body without sexualizing the scene. The various definitions of nakedness are explored in the “Virgins Peculiar Breast” which are compared in relation to the social and religious definitions and how that applies to how nudity and sexuality is portrayed. Many religious people believe that nudity should be kept to one’s self and not shown or displayed for the public. This large push for a more conservative wave of art led artists to resort back to a symbolic approach to religion compared to the naturalistic approach. 

Sexuality and the portrayal of a woman’s breast is a topic that relates to modern day feminist’s concerns regarding “freeing the nipple” and the comparison of a woman’s breast to a man’s chest. This article is based on the western and Christian view of nudity portrayed in public and within works of art during the Renaissance time period. These western and Christian values can differ significantly from many of the eastern world values (Yoder 2016). Nearly every civilization has created sexually explicit imagery, often in the context of spirituality or rituals concerning fertility, to express cultural ideals of beauty and virtue, or in the case of pornography, for the express purpose of viewers’ arousal. This view leads to an uncertainty about how other cultures and religions viewed nudity in their artwork and monuments. 

Between the time periods of 1450 and 1650, Europe underwent a “rebirth” that led to revolutionary cultural change that began to challenge previously accepted ideas and practices around sexuality and many other conventional beliefs. The opinions of many were transformed to be less conservative with a shift to the appreciation for the human body and the immersion of sexuality into mainstream society. “Religious change, the growth of empires, educational development, social mobility, the theater and the printing press, and medical advances all radically reshaped sexuality in the West” (Lebanon, Garn.) These were factors that influenced the tone of the political field surrounding Europe. The role of religion and the church during the fourteenth century helped to benefit the image of women, while also keeping them in a position of inferiority to men and unknowingly to their religion. There are similarities between Renaissance portrayal of sexuality and the contemporary sexuality and the movements seen today in the twenty-first century with artists challenging accepted mindsets. Powerful political currents in society still determined which sexual practices were acceptable and served to regulate the role of women and minorities within Renaissance culture. The dispute over-sexualization of the females’ body is a hot topic that is seen within society and popular culture today with various feminist movements. The portrayal or sexism in art is a political movement that affects women like myself. Many women in the twenty-first century are displayed in art and are over sexualized in a way that would shock the people of the fourteenth century. Artists fight this over sexualization and sexism through representations of art and various methods of visually displaying their opinions. Today, these movements are paralleled to how sexuality was portrayed during the Renaissance time period and how regardless of the time period people rebel against the accepted trends. 

The Renaissance time period delivered political and religious works of art that held messages and contained a beautiful representation of the female body and nudity within various paintings and statues. Nancy Yakimoksi dissects Madonna Lactans and the repercussions the representation of a female breast has on the public. I related the sexual relations in Europe to the sexual representations I have experienced and have seen artistically portrayed within our society today. The twenty first century has put a unique, modern, twist on the way in which people view nudity. The concept of nudity and sexuality will continue to evolve as time progresses. At the rate in which these movements are going, it’s to be expected that these concepts will only become more and more widely accepted. The representation of sexual relations within art and especially religious works of art has been a controversial topic that seems to produce beautiful works of art with moving messages, with a plethora of backlash. While the backlash is becoming much less frequent, nudity and sexuality will forever be a hot controversial topic. 
