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Female Figure
Artist / Origin: Unknown artist (probably Syrian), Nimrud, Iraq
Region: West Asia
Date: Neo-Assyrian, ca. 8th century BCE
Period: 500 BCE – 1 CE
Material: Ivory
Medium: Sculpture
Dimensions: H: 11 ¾ in. (30 cm); W: 2 7/8 in. (7.4 cm); D: 5 ¾ in. (14.5 cm.)
Credit: Courtesy of Il Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi per il Medio Oriente e l’Asia, Turin, Italy
Statue of Aphrodite
Artist / Origin: Roman artist
Region: Europe
Date: 1st–2nd century CE copy after Greek original ca. 3rd–2nd century BCE
Period: 500 BCE – 1 CE
Material: Marble
Medium: Sculpture
Dimensions: H: 62 ½ in. (158.8 cm.) (with plinth)
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
We often think about the nude as the body in its most essential state. But nude bodies in art are just as much the products of our subjectivity as clothed bodies and can communicate just as much information. Nudity is not meaningless nor does it always mean the same thing. This is especially true when it comes to the relationship between nakedness, sex, and gender. When we are seeking to understand ancient figures like the Nimrud ivory and the Aphrodite statue seen here, cultural context can make all the difference.