![]() Was it a work of beauty or a disgraceful display of the naked body that was more appropriate to a bathing house than a church? The Vatican seemed to decide on the latter and to proclaim that nudity was unacceptable in sacred art. The Last Judgment was completed in 1541 and was immediately a cause of great debate. Whether the figures were rich or poor in life, they were all made equal in this painting by a common factor: they were all painted nude. Accordingly, there are a number of figures in the painting, including the saints and the damned. The painting strikingly portrays the Second Coming of Christ and God’s judgment of all mankind. Not least among these masterpieces was the striking floor to ceiling depiction of The Last Judgement, painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel (now part of the Vatican Museums). This emphasis of the human figure complemented the emerging understanding at the time of the beauty and dignity of the human person. Renaissance artists imitated and improved upon studies of the human form, particularly in sculpture, but also in paintings. But that hasn’t always been the case.ĭuring the Renaissance, sacred and secular art alike harkened back to the rediscovered masterpieces of the Greeks. Whether it’s a nude depiction of the Christ child and his cousin John the Baptist or the numerous nude statues in the Vatican Museums, the Catholic Church does not shy away from showing all of the human body. ![]() If you’ve ever been to the Vatican, or even looked through books of sacred art, you’ll notice that there is quite a bit of nudity.
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