From XS to XXL

It is said that tastes are not discussed - and rightly so! But maybe it's worth talking about what was considered beautiful over the centuries. Has slim and athletic body always been worshiped? How were the bodies of the all-powerful gods imagined? A quick look at antiquity, the baroque and the 20th century raises another - even more important - question: does the ideal have to be one? Find out about it while learning about the canons of beauty from previous centuries.

Created by:

Renata Pernak

The Canon of Beauty

The term "canon" is used to describe a set of rules and standards. Therefore, the canon of beauty in art determines how a beautiful woman or a handsome man should look, for example, in sculpture or painting. However, the canon is not fixed forever; it changes over time. That is why the representation of the human body has varied in different epochs. Let's explore how it appeared in antiquity, the Baroque period, and the 20th century.

Antiquity - Ideal Proportions

In antiquity, the canon of art assumed that the body of the portrayed individual should be depicted in proper proportions. For a period of time, this rule was treated literally, with the mathematical calculation of the size of each body part. Over time, the concept of proportions became closer to harmony.

Elżbieta Potocka née Radziwiłł

Castle Museum in Łańcut

The Goddess Sekhmet

The Egyptian goddess is depicted as a seated woman with a lioness head. The body is treated in a simplified and schematic manner. Egyptian sculptors worked based on a pattern composed of squares of the same size. The seated figure consisted of 15 squares. Each body part was subordinated to this structure, for example, from the top of the head to the shoulders – three squares; from the top of the head to the eyes – one square.

Elżbieta Potocka née Radziwiłł

Castle Museum in Łańcut

The size of the sculpture was also important. In this case, the canon of art was combined with image-related or even political considerations. Statues of rulers had to be the tallest. Therefore, the principle applied was: the lower the position in society, the shorter the sculpture.

Gods and goddesses were always depicted as young and strong.

Elżbieta Potocka née Radziwiłł

Castle Museum in Łańcut

The Greek Spear Thrower

Ancient Greeks placed great importance on physical fitness and sports competitions. Greece is the birthplace of many sports disciplines and the Olympic Games. Interestingly, the ancient Greeks valued individual sports more than team sports. It was believed that the winners were favored by the gods.

The presented sculpture depicts a spear thrower, a man competing in the javelin throw event. The sporting javelin was reminiscent of similar weapons used in battle. For this reason, soldiers also participated in javelin throwing competitions.

By depicting the muscular body of an athlete, the sculptor adhered to the canon he created, known as the Canon of Polykleitos, named after him. The key aspect was the proportional relationship between different parts of the body. For example, the foot was meant to be one-sixth of the person's total height, the face one-tenth, and so on. To avoid a sense of stiffness in the figure, Polykleitos aimed to capture the form in a light movement.

Unfortunately, Polykleitos' original sculpture did not survive to the present day. We only know it from numerous copies.

The goddess Aphrodite

Praxiteles, creating approximately 100 years after Polykleitos, was the first to dare to sculpt a nude woman. This caused quite a sensation! Many people were outraged by it, but even more were enthralled.

The image of the goddess Aphrodite, according to the Greeks, represented the ideal beauty of the female body. The goddess appears youthful, and her face expresses a lack of worries that afflict ordinary mortals. Praxiteles created his own canon – he tried to depict figures softly and lightly. The impression of delicate walking on the ground was achieved, among other things, through the characteristically curved silhouette. As a result, it is devoid of stiffness and heaviness.

Praxiteles became famous during his lifetime. Many people specifically traveled to see his Aphrodite. Unfortunately, the original sculpture has not survived to this day.

Baroque – Rubenesque Figures

In the Baroque period, curvaceous women were considered ideal. The painter who often depicted such bodies was Peter Paul Rubens. Hence, the term "Rubenesque figures" originated to describe plump or full-figured women.

Wenus z gołąbkiem

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Wenus z gołąbkiem

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Goddess or mortal?

In the Baroque period, a work was created that is a copy of a painting made about 100 years earlier by Lambert Sustris.

Wenus z gołąbkiem

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

On the foreground lies the Roman goddess of love – Venus. Although her body doesn't yet possess the typical Rubensian proportions, it is depicted with a great deal of naturalness and sensuality. In the 16th century, nudity in painting ceased to be a forbidden or shameful subject.

The artist portrayed the body as faithfully as possible, without embellishment or retouching. The goddess, therefore, appears similar to a mortal woman. However, her divine origin is reminded not only by the title of the painting but also by the presence of a dove – a symbol of Venus.

Three Graces

Castle Museum in Łańcut

Rubenesque Graces

The painting depicts the Graces, known from Roman mythology. They are three sisters: Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. All of them were companions of the goddess of love, Venus. The painting is a copy of a work painted by Peter Paul Rubens.

Three Graces

Castle Museum in Łańcut

The Graces are depicted naked amidst nature in the painting. The artist placed the heroines at the center of the composition, and through the use of light, their bodies stand out against the dark garden background.

The goddesses stand gracefully, freely displaying their bodies. The painter highlights the full figures of the women. This is how the beloved Rubensian shapes looked in the Baroque period.

Three Graces

Castle Museum in Łańcut

The 20th century – what is beauty?

This question has been asked in every era, but it was only in 20th-century art that the daring answer emerged: beauty has no definition. The art of the previous century does not seek to impose a single canon but allows for multiple possibilities. Unlike fashion or popular culture, which in recent decades have tried to perpetuate the belief that a beautiful body (especially for women) should be slim.

Nude

National Museum in Lublin

Nude

National Museum in Lublin

Anatomy Lesson

In the 20th century, artist Symche Trachter decided to analyze the male figure in his drawing. He portrayed it naturally, without unnecessary embellishments but with great attention to anatomical details. The muscles are accentuated not to showcase a fit body but to examine its structure.

Nude

National Museum in Lublin

Drawing with sanguine, a special brown crayon, is ideal for such studies. Studying the human body and the knowledge acquired by the artist can be helpful in artistic endeavors, including painting. Sanguine is often used to create sketches before starting the actual artwork.

Puberty

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

Girl or woman?

The body of every individual undergoes significant changes throughout life, assuming a different appearance at various stages of development. Artist Marek Szwarc decided to capture the process of transformation from a girl to a woman in his sculpture.

The period of adolescence is crucial for every girl. During this time, not only physical changes are significant but also how others perceive her – she no longer is seen as a child but starts to be treated as a woman.

Puberty

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

Adolescence is not a single brief moment but rather a longer process. It's interesting, therefore, that the sculptor chose to capture not a single moment but rather a collection of different moments stretched over time. They also do not attempt to judge what is happening with the girl, remaining neutral. Szwarc's work is evidence that 20th-century art is a time of diversity, creative exploration, and the pursuit of new subjects.

Puberty

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

NOTE

Standards and canons of beauty are subjective and vary across cultures and historical periods.

From XS to XXL

Dictionary of terms:

Baroque – the main trend in European culture, which lasted from the end of the 16th century to the 18th century. In art, it was characterized by splendor, decorativeness and contrasts. Baroque distinguished itself in all areas of art: architecture, literature, theater, art and music.

Popular culture – a type of culture to which access is easy and common, and participation in it does not require in-depth knowledge. The media (mainly television), and now the Internet, play an important role in shaping popular culture.

Antiquity – a period in history covering the history from the emergence of the first civilizations to around the 5th century AD This term is used for areas of the Middle East, Europe and North Africa where great civilizations developed in antiquity, including Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman. The term "antiquity" is sometimes used interchangeably for Greece and Rome.