Aestetic Values of Nude Sculpture between Old and Modern

Abstract

Human body, especially the naked body, is one of the important topics which formed the basis of artists' interest throughout the ages. Nudity concept had been linked to the real existence, as well as, to confirm

 the natural tendency of man. And as a result, the naked body appeared within artworks long time ago. Since Nudity represents a moving and changing cultural discourse according to the prevailing intellectual and cultural vision and concepts, the methods of formation varied overtime, and each era had elements that distinguished its artworks that embodied Nudity, until the modern era came when the artist sought to ensure that his work went beyond just providing a direct report on the visual images, therefore, he moved away from Realism, and embodied Nudity via modern methods and special ways of expression consisting of allusion and metaphor, through it, the artist was able to express what was going on in his mind and thus created his own images. This is what we see in the modern sculptural works that gave the naked body connotations and representations in a new concept. That was by replacing the old aesthetic values with innovative new ones through an explicit and bold change in the components of the artwork which gave it multiple meanings, symbols and philosophical dimensions and thus gave it a special aesthetic dimension. This is what we will discuss by reading and analyzing samples of nude sculptural works through the ages up to the modern era to show the obvious change in the method of presentation and formation