In a widely circulated engraving, Pollaiuolo used nude figures in vigorous poses to suggest the range of human action ( 17.50.99). 1440 Bargello, Florence) and thus presented a biblical hero in classical guise. Donatello adapted the idealized proportions of Greek athletic figures for his celebrated statue of David (ca. Nude figures based on antique models appear in Italy as early as the mid-thirteenth century, and by the mid-fifteenth century, nudes had become symbols of antiquity and its reincarnation. The rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture in the Renaissance restored the nude to the heart of creative endeavor. The weakness and defenselessness of the naked man and woman are stressed in medieval art, and this tradition extends into the fifteenth century in such works as Giovanni di Paolo’s Expulsion from Paradise ( 1975.1.31). Peter’s Grottoes, Vatican City), the ideal forms of Greco-Roman nudes are transformed into the first exponents of sin. In late antique works like the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (ca. Among the notable exceptions are Adam and Eve, whose story casts undress in an ominous light. In this climate, there was little motive to study the nude, and unclothed figures are thus rare in medieval art. The early Christian emphasis on chastity and celibacy further discounted depictions of nakedness. Unlike paganism, Christianity required no images of naked divinities, and new attitudes cast doubt and opprobrium on nude athletics, public bathing, and the very value of the human body. The Nature of Things is the first museum exhibition to examine medieval objects through this lens, offering new ways of thinking about the relationships between people, art, and environments.The development and eventual dominance of Christianity in late antiquity profoundly changed the needs of patrons and the output of artists.
Still others reveal attitudes of care and reverence. Others demonstrate the rich inspiration that artists and patrons drew from plants and animals. Some represent responses to moments of scarcity, abundance, or ecological change. The Nature of Things prompts us to recognize how the industries that artists relied on-forestry, quarrying, mining, and farming-temporarily and permanently affected landscapes throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia.ĭecorative and functional, sacred and secular, these artworks also shed light on medieval people’s nuanced engagements with the natural world. Featuring a range of materials including wood, stone, cloth, and metal, this exhibition considers the vast array of natural resources needed to produce the artworks that decorated churches and households across Europe during the Middle Ages. With nearly fifty sculptures, textiles, and books made between 11 CE, The Nature of Things highlights the links between artmaking and the environment in the later medieval era. What does it take to make a work of art? What are its environmental impacts? How does the natural world shape artistic practices? And what did this mean in the Middle Ages?
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