Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Research>Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts>Research Projects>Members' Research Report Archive>Thomas Kren, 2015-2016

About Fellowships

Senior Fellowships

Visiting Senior Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Center/YCBA Postdoctoral Fellowships

Predoctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Center Members

Members’ Presentations

Former Members

Members’ Research Reports, 2011–2018

About Center Meetings

Recent & Upcoming Meetings

A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts

Wyeth Foundation for American Art Programs

Sydney J. Freedberg Lectures on Italian Art

Research at the Center

The Index of American Design

History of Early American Landscape Design

The History of the Accademia di San Luca, c. 1590–1635

About the Center Publications

Recent & Upcoming Publications

Reflections on the Collection: The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professors at the National Gallery of Art

Studies in the History of Art

Seminar Papers

*Center Report*

From the *Bulletin*

Research Publications

Special Publications

National Gallery of Art Shop

# Members' Research Report Archive

*The Nude in the Renaissance in Europe, 1400–1530 ***       **

**Thomas Kren**, J. Paul Getty Museum, emeritusEdmond J Safra Visiting Professor, spring 2016

Andrea Mantegna, *Battle of the Sea Gods [left half]*, before 1481, engraving on laid paper, Gift of W.G. Russell Allen, 1941.1.6

*The Nude in the Renaissance in Europe, 1400–1530*, an exhibition that will open at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in October 2018 and travel to the Royal Academy in London four months later, examines the origins and development of the nude as an artistic theme. Although the emergence of the nude in European art has long been closely associated with the Italian Renaissance and specifically with the revival of the classical ideals of human form, separate and distinct traditions of the nude emerged in other parts of Europe starting at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The nude engaged the talent of Italian artists as diverse as Donatello (1386–1466), Botticelli (1445–1510), Michelangelo (1475–1564), Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Raphael (1483–1520), and Titian (c. 1485/1490–1575), but also leading northern artists such as the Limbourg brothers (Herman, Paul, and Johan; active 1385–1416); Jan van Eyck (1390–1441); Jean Fouquet (1420–1481); Meister Francke (1380–1435); Jan Gossaert (1478–1532); Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528); and Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553). The unclothed human form had long played a significant role in European art, but the level of sophistication in naturalistic modes of representing the nude—both technically and conceptually—rose dramatically across Europe after 1400. These changes enriched the meanings and enhanced the appeal of the nude as both artistic motif and subject while giving rise to a variety of types of nudes. Classical models in the south and the development of the technique of painting in oil in the north contributed to the depiction of diverse types of bodies that shared an ever greater vibrancy, corporeality, and immediacy. The nude in a range of media inspired many of the great masterpieces of the era.

This project endeavors to consider the artistic, cultural, and technical factors that led simultaneously to the rise of naturalistically represented nudes in distinct regions, primarily of Western Europe, and to trace the separate strands of developments that sometimes ran parallel and other times intertwined. Recent scholarship has increasingly acknowledged the significance of the complex web of travel and cultural exchanges that connected artists and patrons across Europe during this period. For example, Italian patrons collected paintings of sensual female nudes from Northern Europe before Italian artists started producing such works. At the same time it was the Italians who, during the Quattrocento, placed the study of the human form at the center of artistic theory and practice, an innovation that spread throughout Europe during the sixteenth century. Different cultural attitudes shaped the development of each of these trends. Additionally, Christian culture and its manifestations across Europe—themselves bound up with images—contributed to the nude’s rise to prominence as well as to the controversies that arose in response to it.

*The Nude in the Renaissance in Europe, 1400–1530* and its scholarly catalog will explore the subject thematically across five broad categories as a means of demonstrating the parallel artistic developments described above. They are “Nudity and Christian Art”; “Artistic Practice and Theory”; “Humanism, the Classical Revival, and the Expansion of Secular Themes”; “The Abject Nude”; and “Personalizing the Nude.” The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship has afforded me the opportunity to pursue several avenues of research toward the writing of my catalog contributions, the refinement of the content and organization of the catalog, and the completion of the exhibition checklist. In “Before Fontainebleau: The Origins of the Nude in French Art, 1400–1500,” a lecture given at the National Gallery of Art in May, I argued that certain French artists outside Italy consciously adapted the nude as subject matter over the course of the fifteenth century, and I considered how their choices intersected or departed from the new attitudes and practices being shaped in Italy by a burgeoning humanism. The lecture and responses to it from colleagues are shaping the arguments of my essay for the exhibition catalog.

*Center 36*

                  - Andrea Mantegna
                  - Battle of the Sea Gods [left half]
                  - before 1481

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy