Nude Women In Greek Art

The first known Greek sculpture of a nude female was crafted by Praxiteles upon request by the city of Knidos, who had requested a sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite. The sculpture features Aphrodite nude but in a modest posture, appearing to be preparing to bathe, with her right hand covering, yet drawing attention to, her pubic area. The sculpture of Aphrodite became extremely popular and may have initiated the continued practice of sexual objectification of women in art, which has persisted to this day.

Public response to the statue was dramatic, and it became intensely popular, with people traveling to Knidos just to view it. While much of the response to the statue was due to the taboo of female nudity, which arrived three centuries

after the male nude was popularized in Greece, the statue was still worshipped as a religious entity. It was housed in a circular temple so that Aphrodite may be viewed from all angles. The statue was copied extensively, with the most intact copy currently housed in the Vatican.
It is important to note that Greek culture was misogynistic, with women legally regarded only slightly better than slaves.

Women were largely confined to the home, and when in public, they were fully draped in modest clothes, in contrast with men for whom public nudity was celebrated. While women were certainly objectified prior to the statue of Aphrodite, its emergence opened a new door, allowing men to create art designed for the male gaze, to excite and please the eye. The pose in which Praxiteles sculpted Aphrodite is almost shameful; a woman who has been caught naked and is attempting to cover herself, which is a stark contrast to the typical male nude, which is proud, bold, and shameless.

In modern society, female nudity is still a taboo compared to male nudity; whereas a man may enter the public space (depending on the space) without a shirt, women are shamed for just breastfeeding their children in public, even when surrounded by images of women (usually in advertisements) showing less skin than a nursing mother. This tradition is similar to that which was created or exposed by Praxiteles, in which female nudity is permissible when created for male consumption via art, but such freedom is forbidden for the individual

woman.
The statue of Aphrodite fed the desire for that which is inaccessible. Many later sculptures, such as the Capitoline Venus, adopted the style the Praxiteles initiated, which perpetuated the sculpture of the female form in a vulnerable position for the enjoyment of men.