Italian artist Anna Utopia Giordano has taken some great (and, to be honest, not so great) paintings of nudes from the past and reimagined what they would look like if their bodies conformed to what the 21st-century thinks of as an ideal of beauty. The results are revealing – and quite shocking in what they say about our modern attitudes to women\’s bodies
Strangely, he\’s managed to get a part of it wrong. Agreed, bellies, hips and thighs seem to be out of style at present. But breasts are very much in such.
And this is not just a change in fashion either. There has actually been a marked change in the general size of play puppies over the past century or so. Every year or two there\’s another piece on how the average woman has moved from a B cup to a C or some such.
And no, this isn\’t just about the increase in muffin tops either, a general embiggenning of the actual female form as opposed to the fashionable one. Nor is it about implants. Some (quite probably nutritional) factor has caused a change in the ratio between breast size and the size of the rest of the average woman.
What he\’s done in the pictures is slim the stomach, hips and thighs…..but not enlargened the breasts. Which is a little odd, to note one change and not the other.
Some (quite probably nutritional) factor has caused a change in the ratio between breast size and the size of the rest of the average woman.
It’s not ‘some’ nutritional factor, its just better nutrition generally and the precise reasons for this change are, in many respects, a matter of economics.
We have a finite resource – food – which our bodies ‘invest’ in things which either ensure our personal survival or enhance our ability to reproduce, so when food is scarce trade-offs have to be made, greater priority is given to survival and we have less to invest in reproductive resources – hence smaller offspring, smaller breasts, etc.
Increase the supply of food and we can invest more in reproduction, so we get larger babies and larger breasts so as to afford our youngest offspring a better food supply.
When it comes down to it, biology observes the basic rules of economics – it’s all about supply, demand and making trade offs.
Tim adds: It’s this bit I’m not certain about:
“we get larger babies and larger breasts so as to afford our youngest offspring a better food supply.”
For I’m unconvinced (on the basis of scanty knowledge) that size of breast equals greater milk production. Quite possibly greater sexual attraction of males, yes, but not of milk production. So there is an evolutionary link, but not the one suggested?
If you look at something like Goya’s La Maja Desnuda, that’s a thin, sexy woman that’s definitely up for it. But he got booted out of his job by the inquisition for painting it.
So, is it worth suggesting that perhaps artists knew that they couldn’t make art with desirable women, but instead had to make art that was purer?
And the reason that we now have a different body shape idealised is that we no longer have the church interfering in such matters?
Curiously, the changes make Botticelli’s Venus look rather emaciated to my eye, and the changed Rokeby Venus (possibly the most erotic nude in art) is also less atractive to me. Which suggests to me that ideals of beauty have perhaps not changed that much…
I think more research into bigger breasts is required.
Given a big enough grant I’m sure I will be able to put my finger on the reason.
Ít is probably related to AGW.
Skinny is fashionable among the bourgeoisie because it taps into a puritan ideal of moral restraint from indulgence; it is a demonstration that you’re aren’t a piggy glutton.
Big boobs are fashionable because big boobs are the most awesome thing in the world.
For I’m unconvinced (on the basis of scanty knowledge) that size of breast equals greater milk production. Quite possibly greater sexual attraction of males, yes, but not of milk production. So there is an evolutionary link, but not the one suggested?
It’s all inter-related, Tim.
Female breasts are composed of a mix of glandular, fatty and connective tissue and it the glandular tissue that’s the key to providing a good supply of milk – and firm, well rounded breasts.
As women age, the amount of glandular tissue declines as is replaced by fatty tissue, which is less dense – this is why things start to ‘head south’.
So, larger, well rounded breasts indicate a greater amount of glandular tissue and, all other things being equal, an enhanced milk supply for any future offspring, which also makes them a signal of biological fitness – and signals of biological fitness are, of course, what evolution has predisposed males of our species to look for.
It’s not just about sexual signalling and its not just size that matters – there is a more complex natural aesthetic at work which breast augmentation often fails to simulate accurately, which explains why many men find silicon enhanced breasts deeply unattractive.
He has in fact enlarged most of the breasts, but not by as much as our esteemed host would, apparently wish.
I think you are wrong, Tim.
I spent a lot of time comparing the before and after pics (ahem), and I think there is a significant increase in breast size in these re-imaginations.
I think it is most obvious in Titian: The Venus of Urbino
…Probably the most time I have ever, or will ever, spend reading the Guardian.
Yeah… the breasts are larger
With the possible exception of the Rokeby Venus I’d take the originals ahead of the liposuctioned. I offer this thought for what it’s worth.
Anna Utopia is a bloke?
Selection bias.
All the (definitely more fanciable) paintings are aimed at men. The modern versions target young women.
The real problem with that is that she has done no such thing. She is clearly not giving them modern proportions. She is simply photoshoping them to make them thinner. There is hardly a single one of the originals that would look out of place in a Men’s magazine today. This is just the usual agitprop.
Strange post Tim. First of all, Anna Utopia is rather obviously a woman. And second, she has made the breasts larger. One wouldn’t expect the Guardian to be so vulgar as to notice: I am strangely moved to find that you are at one with them.