Charlotte Mason in America
Aug. 24, 2008
Art Appreciation and Nudity

Posted in Art appreciation

Either next week or the following week, we will start taking a close look at art masterpieces. Over a period of 2 or 3 months, we will focus on one artist and look at his or her works. As anyone who has visited an art museum knows, nudity comes along with the territory of art appreciation sometimes.

Over the years, I have not covered the nudity in order for my girls to see the whole picture. I've heard of some moms putting a post-it note over the parts they didn't want their kids to see and I feel that takes away from the art and puts too much emphasis on the nudity. I do try to find pictures that don't contain nudity, but sometimes (as in Michelangelo's "David") it's unavoidable. It's a piece of art that identifies very clearly with the artist and something would be lost if it were covered or not even looked at.

After we have studied a piece of art, my girls will often cut out a pair of shorts (or other piece of clothing) from construction paper and cover the parts they don't want to see. The following is a refrigerator magnet I purchased when we studied Michelangelo.

 

Forunately for us, we live in the 21st century and have the internet.  Ambleside Online is a wonderful resource which provides a schedule and pictures for study.  Some have a little nudity, but AO offers a detail of such pictures that doesn't have nudity and can be used as an alternate.


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Comments

Aug. 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by 2boysmom


Once an image is seen, it can never be erased.


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Aug. 29, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Jilann


The shorts are great! How cute!


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Sep. 18, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>

Posted by amtell


That is the main reason my kids hate artist study. They get very grossed out by the nudity. I've tried explaining to them that it wasn't a big deal back then and a lot of artists saw nudity as a way of expressing purity. But it goes against all their prior training in modesty and they aren't buying it. I think it's kid of funny that your kids make clothes to cover them. I gave my children a Renaissance art coloring page last week that had a woman's breast exposed. They refused to color it until I told them they could make a shirt to cover her. :-) I'm not complaining. I hope they will always be this modest.

BTW, I found you through your comment on my blog and I'm really enjoying your blog.


Edited by amtell on Sep. 18, 2008 at 6:23 PM


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Art appreciation