Heroic Nakedness
13 June – 15 October 2012
Christ Church Picture Gallery's summer exhibition, Heroic Nakedness, will celebrate the human body as seen by Renaissance and Baroque artists.
Combining voyeurism and a 'sense of wonder', the works have been selected as a tribute to the Olympic ideals and will demonstrate, with over 30 drawings from the gallery's permanent collection, how artists explore the physical beauty of the human form.
Don't miss
The almost clumsy rendering of a nude throwing a ball by an unknown Venetian artist of the early 15th century is an interesting example of the beginnings of the subject, when artists drew more from imagination than observation. Lorenzo di Credi's stylised drawing of the figure of David, some decades later, shows how a Renaissance artist attempts to represent a realistic image of the body. A group of life drawings by Agostino and Annibale Carracci show their endeavour to change art by drawing from real life models.