by Amber Hilton

Created on: February 09, 2007   Last Updated: December 03, 2009

The nude as a staple of the art world dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks. In ancient Greek society, public nudity was an everyday occurrence. In fact, it has been said that the first Olympic athletes competed in the nude. The root of the word "gymnasium" actually comes from the Greek word "gymnos", meaning "naked". With public nudity so prevalent, it is not surprising that Greek artwork shows such a mastery of the treatment of the human form.

Throughout history, two of the most accepted ways to become skilled at creating art were by looking to nature or by looking to the work of artistic masters. Thus, whether they were looking to nature or looking at works of the ancient Greeks, the nude human form has become a natural subject choice for many artists throughout the years.

That being said, artists did not always have a choice when it came to the subject of their work. Art academies, first established in Renaissance Italy, prescribed strict guidelines for the production of works of art. If an artist wanted their work to be well-accepted and sold, it was in their best interest to follow these guidelines.

Out of all the European academies, the French Academy (Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture) was considered the most influential. Founded in 1648, the goal of the academy was to distinguish artists from craftsmen, thus emphasizing the more intellectual aspects of art creation.

The Academy established a hierarchy which applied to paintings: classical, mythological, religious or allegorical subject matter were valued above all others (landscapes, still lifes, portraits, etc.). These subjects, sometimes referred to collectively as "history paintings" were also the preference of some of the most important royal, aristocratic and clerical art collectors and commissioners.

Because the nude form is a essential aspect of many history paintings, this also meant that the nude form was at the top of the hierarchy as well. Learning to draw the nude human form came to be considered the most useful tool an artist could develop.

The academy's rules did not govern subject matter alone, but for several centuries, they also prescribed rules and conventions for acceptable poses and other treatments of the nude body. Artists who attempted to break away from those constraints were usually met with hostility and considered scandalous. Of course, now we can appreciate what such artists were attempting to create.

The nude form continues to be a popular subject for many

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