The female form has taken drastic changes from the Venus of Villendorf whose form promoted fertility and feminine strength to Manet's Olympia which shocked and had many questioning what might be too risque to be considered art. The female form has been debated for as long as it's form has been dictated on canvas. scandalized and scrutinized, the female form can be poetic or sultry, it proves the theory that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder; what may be seen as beautiful and poetic is decided by the viewer. From saint, to seductress to work of art, the image of woman has and will change in the eyes of society.
Venus of Urbino, Tiziano Vecellio, 1538, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
Three Graces, Antonio Canova, 1813 - 1816, From the collection of: The State Hermitage Museum
The Death of Sardanapalus, Ferdinand-Victor-Eugène Delacroix, French, 1798 - 1863, 1844, From the collection of: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Olympia, Edouard Manet, 1863, From the collection of: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Cycladic female figurine (canonical type, Kapsala variety), Unknown, "2800-2300 BC" - "", From the collection of: Museum of Cycladic Art
The Odalisque, Marià Fortuny, 1861, From the collection of: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya - MNAC, Barcelona
Four Studies of a Female Nude, an Annunciation and Two Studies of a Woman Swimming, Pisanello, circa 1425, From the collection of: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Female Nude on a Dolphin, François Boucher, circa 1730 - 1740, From the collection of: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Study of Four Women Bathing, Paul Cézanne, circa 1879 - 1882, From the collection of: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, 1483 - 1485, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
The Panciatichi Holy Family, Bronzino Tori, Around 1540, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
Flora, Tiziano Vecellio, 1515 - Around 1517, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
Venus of Urbino, Tiziano Vecellio, 1538, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
Madonna with the long neck, Parmigianino Mazzola, 1534 - 1540, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raffaello Sanzio, 1505 - 1506, From the collection of: Uffizi Gallery
No Woman, No Cry, Chris Ofili, 1998, From the collection of: Tate Britain
The North-West Passage, Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, 1874, From the collection of: Tate Britain
Portrait of an Unknown Lady, Marcus Gheeraerts II, Around 1595, From the collection of: Tate Britain
Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais, Around 1851, From the collection of: Tate Britain
Hope, George Frederic Watts, 1886, From the collection of: Tate Britain
`Take your Son, Sir', Ford Madox Brown, 1851, From the collection of: Tate Britain
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This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
