Selecting The Model

Form and Figure

During the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo depicted his figures as very muscular and masculine, including the women like this "Libyan Sibyl" from the Sistine Chapel of 1511. Perhaps it was because the labor of the day made people more muscular, or perhaps it was, as some suggest, that Michelangelo took the Bible (too) literally when it said that "Man" was created in the image of God. Therefore the depiction of the male form was a spiritual act of representing the image of God.

In 1647 Rembrandt portrayed "Hendrijke Stoffels in Bed." Like most all of Rembrandt's women (and Ruben's as well), those northern girls were well insulated. These fleshy ladies even began to be known by the latter artist's name; they are said to this day to be "Rubenesque."

230 years later, the French painter Bouguereau painted scenes of the lower class "Gypsies," (1880) finding beauty in the well muscled arms of this working class.

But at that same time (1878) Henri Gervex painted this image of "Rolla" in which his model is a softly curvacious beauty of medium build. No rippling forearms here.

In Evelyn de Morgan's 1885 depiction of "Hero Awaiting the Return of Leander," de Morgan has chosen a tall, slender model to lean out over the rocks.

And from a hundred years prior, 1787-93, Antonio Canova's sculpture, "Cupid and Psyche," presents us with the slender juvenile bodies of two young lovers from mythology.

Questions to think about:

How do the eras or geographic locations in which artists live effect the models they use?
How do popular opinions of beauty affect the depiction of beauty by artists?
How does the subject matter artists wish to depict effect body type of selected models?
Can multiple ideals of proportion exist at one time? Consider the three different body types represented in the late 19th Century from above.
How might the personal preferences of the artist effect the models s/he uses?
How will you choose to depict beauty in your art? In the art you buy?

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	During the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo depicted his figures as very muscular and masculine, including the women like this "Libyan Sibyl" from the Sistine Chapel of 1511. Perhaps it was because the labor of the day made people more muscular, or perhaps it was, as some suggest, that Michelangelo took the Bible (too) literally when it said that "Man" was created in the image of God. Therefore the depiction of the male form was a spiritual act of representing the image of God.
	In 1647 Rembrandt portrayed "Hendrijke Stoffels in Bed." Like most all of Rembrandt's women (and Ruben's as well), those northern girls were well insulated. These fleshy ladies even began to be known by the latter artist's name; they are said to this day to be "Rubenesque."
	230 years later, the French painter Bouguereau painted scenes of the lower class "Gypsies," (1880) finding beauty in the well muscled arms of this working class.
		But at that same time (1878) Henri Gervex painted this image of "Rolla" in which his model is a softly curvacious beauty of medium build. No rippling forearms here.
	In Evelyn de Morgan's 1885 depiction of "Hero Awaiting the Return of Leander," de Morgan has chosen a tall, slender model to lean out over the rocks.
	And from a hundred years prior, 1787-93, Antonio Canova's sculpture, "Cupid and Psyche," presents us with the slender juvenile bodies of two young lovers from mythology.

Selecting The Model Form and Figure

Selecting The Model

Form and Figure