Renaissance Beauty: First Sight Of The Female?

Although it is disputed if the Renaissance (or Rebirth, namely of Classical ideals and design) as we know it happened or not, one new occurrence that came out of that particular period of time was the focus on the female as an object of beauty. The society we live in now knows nothing of this transition since we live in a time when women are far too often objectified by the media, and even themselves. It seems absurd to think of a society where women are not objects of beauty; however, to have a female as an object of beauty in ancient Rome would have been absurd then. Sure, men married women, but they were only to bear them children. It was certainly not unheard of for men to engage in sexual behaviors with each other as a show of camaraderie or brotherhood. The male athlete's physique was worshipped, envied. The Masculine was the most objectified and important where the Feminine was discarded.

Although there was a sort of, "rebirth," of Classical ideals, the renaissance was not the same as ancient Grecian or Roman times. There was never as heavy a focus on male athleticism during the renaissance, but a focus on beauty. Beauty was seen through female depictions as virtue or heavenly beings. Although images of women are abundant, their meaning is regulated through eroticization or a Neo-Platonic interpretation. Various depictions of Eve and the Virgin Mary demonstrate the well known dichotomy of the shameful, lustful cause of the expulsion from Eden and the ideal, virginal mother of Jesus. Many theorize that Christianity is actually the major reason women appear in more sculptures and paintings during the renaissance; that artists used more women in their pieces as religious iconography because of the rise of Catholicism. This was, of course, pieces of work which were patronized: most religious artwork was contracted by the Church for cathedrals, basilicas, or even the Vatican. Multitudes of women had their portraits painted during this time as well; however, these paintings were primarily done for the wedding of the woman depicted. Images of women were often considered to be an empty sign that could symbolize or allegorize various virtues, vices, and intangible ideas. Often women were presented in the guise of famous exemplars, such as Lucretia, a Roman matron who committed suicide rather than bring the shame of her rape upon her family. Popular role models also included the Biblical heroines Judith, who saved her people when she seduced their enemy Holofernes with alcohol and cut off his head after he collapsed, and Susanna, who refused to have sex with two voyeuristic Elders. These women were ostensibly utilized to show female virtues, but were almost without exception eroticized, emphasizing the sexual wiles these women either used or were accused of using to attract men.

Images of women who are naked or partially disrobed have also been given a limited number of interpretations; either they have been viewed as courtesans or as figures with a Neo-Platonic higher meaning. The figures are sometimes posited as courtesans posing as their classical precedents, such as Flora, a conflation of the goddess of flowers and a rich Roman courtesan who endowed games for the citizens of Rome, or as Danae, a mythological woman who was impregnated by Zeus in a shower of gold and whose actions were sometimes interpreted in the Renaissance as those of a mercenary prostitute. Alternately,