The most famous nude of all
Return to DiscussionsBearing in mind one of the most iconic images of Italy, the world famous statue of David, is a nude male, I find it strange that the more conservative elements of Italian society, the church and the law, seem to have such a problem with nudity. Millions of Italians and tourists from all over the world flock to Piazza dei Signori and the Galleria dell'Accademia to admire the splendour of his nude body. They look up and stare at his muscular body and marvel at the detail of his manhood . They sip their prosecco beneath his blatant nakedness .. yet nudity is frowned on in Italy!
Or is it?
Personally I have never found it difficult to discover a quiet area of beach or shoreline where I can sunbathe nude and even on more popular beaches, providing one is discrete, it is seemingly accepted to be naked. I was staying in Spisone, near Taormina in Sicily and at one end of the local beach on several occasions I was delighted to join the few Italian young men working on their all over tans. Nobody seemed bothered whether the police every came I did not know. Perhaps they turned a blind eye, like they happily do for David.
Few Jews Christians or Muslims who revere the Abrahamic prophets & kings, or others, recognize or admit that the Italian Statue of Michelangelos David is in fact a paean to the heroic NUDISM & valiant victory of the first Jewish King David who, as a youth intrepidly slayed the Giant Goliath who was terrorizing several Nations of that era. A careful reading of the Jewish scripture reveals to any literate person that the Young David was surely wearing nothing but his weaponized sling (rarely visible in photos of Michealangelo's minimalist representation) & some sandals. He slayed the Giant in the NUDE.
See, even slaying giants is best accomplished NUDE like most things!
Few Jews Christians or Muslims who revere the Abrahamic prophets & kings, or others, recognize or admit that the Italian Statue of Michelangelos David is in fact a paean to the heroic NUDISM & valiant victory of the first Jewish King David who, as a youth intrepidly slayed the Giant Goliath who was terrorizing several Nations of that era. A careful reading of the Jewish scripture reveals to any literate person that the Young David was surely wearing nothing but his weaponized sling (rarely visible in photos of Michealangelo's minimalist representation) & some sandals. He slayed the Giant in the NUDE.See, even slaying giants is best accomplished NUDE like most things!
I read somewhere that Greek soldiers fought nude except for a cape while Persians fought fully dressed. Both considered the other uncivilized for doing so.
I was always fascinated by David and how he's so revered in the Christian and apparently Jewish faiths. This is a dude who put out enemies with death, had a homoerotic relationship with Jonathan, was a voyeur who got Bathsheba pregnant and then pre-meditated her husband's death, all to be designated a man "after the heart of God." Maybe our Creator wants to be naked, disdain labels and follow our own path over conventional morality, cock proud and all. In any case, David was no Puritan.
Nudity in all art genres has a history that is centuries old. In western culture, The David is widely considered the finest expression of that history, and the most aesthetic expression of the human form. That would still be true if its title was Adam or any other male name.
Few Jews Christians or Muslims who revere the Abrahamic prophets & kings, or others, recognize or admit that the Italian Statue of Michelangelos David is in fact a paean to the heroic NUDISM & valiant victory of the first Jewish King David who, as a youth intrepidly slayed the Giant Goliath who was terrorizing several Nations of that era. A careful reading of the Jewish scripture reveals to any literate person that the Young David was surely wearing nothing but his weaponized sling (rarely visible in photos of Michealangelo's minimalist representation) & some sandals. He slayed the Giant in the NUDE.See, even slaying giants is best accomplished NUDE like most things!
I always thought that when it says "he took them off" it was referring to the armor, not the tunic also, but now that you mention it, it does appear that way.