I'm saying this as a catholic. I fully understand the symbolism behind the nude arts of our tradition. Still, everytime I go to the church, I'm welcomed with 3 almost naked statues of Christ. As a guy I feel embarrassed, and even moreso because unlike Christ, Mother Mary is always depicted as fully clothed and even veiled. If you look up the arts that aren't usually displayed on churches, there's even more nudity and most commonly male one. It just honestly makes me feel uneasy and sometimes even grossed out.
I'm not demanding to see our Theotokos nude or to see more nude women, I'm not demanding depictions of Christ to be more modest, nor I'm demanding the Church to change it's laws on artistic depictions. I'm just spilling my heart's content. Maybe I'm not the only one here and there's a tip from Zig Forums of shaking off this feeling? Or maybe I should just try my best to ignore these icons?
Isn't it a rennaisance thing? Can you post some examples?
Chase Kelly
I mean, Christ was not crucified while wearing a business suit. How else are you going to depict His suffering without bringing back to mind Matthew 27:35:
I don't understand your aversion to nudity. To be ashamed of vulnerability and of the body that God gave us is a consequence of the Fall, the least we can do as Christians is to not have this aversion. Of course, modesty matters, but it's not like the naked depictions of Christ sexualize Him in any way.
You've never seen Michaelangelo's sculptures or Da Vinci's artworks? Those are the most common examples. My chuch has 2 replicas of DaVinci.
Hence I'm not asking people to depict Christ in business suit. I'm just expressing my uneasiness. Of course it's different for everybody but for me the scripture is enough to describe it.
You can't really be free from the original sin that shaped our nature unless you're not human.
Our perception of art is subjective. Some might say He's not sexualized, but I feel like He is. In my perception, it's uncalled for because it's like stripping Him off again to be nailed on the cross.
Jace Garcia
… Huh? Aren't you Catholic? Baptism is for the removal of original sin, while Confirmation is the seal of the Holy Spirit to permit us to persevere in this. Of course, it takes an entire lifetime to embrace the grace of Baptism, but not only is it possible to be free from original sin, but it is by being free of original sin that we become truly human. Our original nature is disfigured and stained but it's not lost. That our original nature has been lost, or that the image of God in us has been lost, is a Calvinist teaching.
The Church's intentions, however, are not. And the Church's intentions are not to depict Christ as a sex beast, but to depict Him in the naked suffering at the Cross, to depict Him in the naked purity at His baptism, to depict Him in the naked vulnerability that He wholly embraced when He chose to be born from a woman as a naked baby in a manger. I guess that it can be argued that some statues and artwork depict him as too "muscular" or "fit" and it could be distracting, but I'm not Catholic so I'm not used to statues and such (but the statues of Christ I've seen certainly didn't make me feel hot and heavy - to be honest I find Him more to look miserable and thin than to look like a model for a photo shoot).
Lincoln Rogers
Actually here's a statue of Christ in my parish. I don't see what is explicit or sexualized about it. He looks moribund, He looks miserable, He looks like He is starving, suffering, and barely alive anymore.
I mean, we can't be free from our natural tendencies. Yeah I worded that wrong. Our nature was formed by the sins that Adam and Eve did. Sins can be forgiven but their natural tendencies stays with our physical and psychological state.
Of course, I understand their intentions. And I'm not saying that Christ is depicted in a eroticized way. However I respect Christ so much that I don't like Him to be displayed this way, and I also respect the holiness of God's image in human's body so I prefer a modest display. These are the unwritten traditions of my Church that I can't really agree with. I don't really like these artistic depictions of Christ and the saints.
Aaron Ramirez
You sound like a girl or someone with a degree of queerish apprehensions.
You did know that criminals are believed to have been crucified nude? And as far as I know Mary wasn't crucified.
Jason Rivera
We don't need to see photos of car crash victims to know that they died nastily.
Joseph Ortiz
And, it's not respectful to show the photos of rape victims being raped, for example.
Angel Long
The depravity of the treatment of Christ is a major part of the Christian Tradition, we are to remember how Christ lowered him self below all other in the most humble fashion. We are to recall vividly on how he was treated. There is nothing sexy about how we depict Christ, if there are any inclinations to those perversions it's on you. I honestly cannot agree with anything you've said.
Jayden Harris
You are lucky the Antiochian Parish near me held a gala with bikini dancers.
I think I'm okay with the really old icons' depiction of nudity, but I think Greek art really brought a bad influence to catholic artistic traditions. The Greeks were sexually depraved. It still can't get through my head how the Church accepted their influence in arts.
Jacob Barnes
End thyself, puritan.
Adrian Stewart
I feel like this is somehow not charitable.
Oliver Roberts
They literally didn't. Not all of us are unable to distinguish between sexual and non-sexual nudity.
Ryder Torres
Come on, man. Not on Zig Forums.
Cameron Brooks
For society's sake it's probably charitable.
Only an anti-European globalist could say such a thing. Bored monks made illustrations of people with horns up their bums. This is aside from all the possible homosex and diddling. That's what such prudishness gets you.
So you're saying that they should've drawn nudes of Christ and the saints just so they can fulfill their lust for the gay?
No, I love the host. The Eucharist is beautiful because it contains both symbolical and literal meaning.
Justin Jackson
this is the ideal male body. you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like
Jordan Reed
But they actually did. The arts of Raphael, Michaelangelo, and Da Vinci among other artists were inspired by the ancient Greek arts.
I don't think the crucifixion was sexual, but it was a form of humiliation too.
Jacob Green
This wasn't a problem until the Puritans and Victorian age. Catholicism was always upfront with sex and the body and viewed it as holy things within marriage. The Puritans and the 60's sexual revolution is two sides of the same coin.
Not in the medieval ages. She was often depicted nursing Baby Jesus. Now, this kinda seems weird but its because we sexualize breasts too much. Back then everyone recognized breasts as tools for child feeding and only "sexy" within sex.
If you have a problem with lust and sexualizing breasts too much, you can look at a few images and meditate on how God created breasts for child raising
William Scott
I'd say in Western art it's common.. and not sure it was done for any sacred reason (such as old paintings of St. Mary Magdalene… who never was a prostitute to begin with and just some weird belief in the West for some reason).
user I'm going to be honest with you Other than the last one, those pictures look abhorrent.
Lucas Martin
Yeah, I'm sure the average teenager circa 1400 who walked by such a painting only got a boner from the woman who was "clothed like a prostitute". Totally wasn't interested in the beautiful naked woman.
