Artists’ representations of the human body

Human body is considered to be one of the most beautiful and difficult subject to draw and paint in the art world. Artists spend years honing the art of representing them. Some go for contemporary style, some academic, abstract, representational or sculptural. Whatever type of style it may be, they all spend a lot of time studying the anatomy and forms of the body. All this might not be too evident, but it definitely goes in the mind of the artist. The marvels of human body endlessly inspire engineers and scientists to innovate in their respective fields. 

When studying in Florence, I studied with a senior artist who had spent 7 years just studying anatomy with a maestro in Venice. That is the obsession and awe of an artist for creating beautiful artwork of human body. In the ateliers all over the world, many years are spent just training the eye to paint the nude models from life. Initially drawing/painting a figure from life is intimidating but then you start appreciating the nuances and beauty of this universe’s most complicated creation. The best part is, all bodies are beautiful in the eye of an artist. Each body has its own story to tell and it is depicted in the most bizarre and traditional ways in art from centuries.

Below are a few examples of 

1. Academic Style – Michelangelo Buonarroti( 1475- 1564) – He was considered to be a master in portraying human figure. He used to first examine the corpses in the convent of Santo Spirito in Florence when he was in his late teens.
   In the figure here you can see how he works in a structural way finding the form in each part of the body and sculpting it using the red chalk. The figure almost breathes like a sculpture.