Q. Is the nudity depicted in famous Renaissance artwork sinful?
A. While recent events may be at the heart of this question, the issue of nudity in Renaissance art is not a new one. In the 16th century, some of the depictions of nudity in the Sistine Chapel were covered up so as not to scandalize the faithful. Since then, some (not all) of these coverings have been removed. While this is just one example, it is helpful in illustrating the nature of the controversy around nudity in art, and where the Church stands.
To answer this question, I will imitate our Lord and go back to the beginning. Before the Fall, we are told, Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame (Genesis 2:25). They felt no shame because sin had not yet entered the world. They could stand before one another in complete vulnerability, expressed through their nakedness, and know that the other only looked upon them with love, seeing them as they were—a beloved Child of the Father—with no desire to reduce them to a mere object.
After the Fall, Adam and Eve clothed themselves because, now that sin had entered the world and divided Man from God, Man from Nature, Man from Himself, and Man from Woman, Adam and Eve lost the look of love to lust. Lust “is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure” (CCC 1531). Put another way, lust reduces a person to simply an object of pleasure, stripping them of their dignity and humanity. It is this look to possess that causes Adam and Eve to cover themselves. They can no longer trust the other to not reduce them to a mere object for pleasure.
It is only in this larger context that the question of nudity in art can be answered. Clearly, nudity in and of itself is not sinful, nor is being nude in front of another person inherently sinful, as is evidenced by the fact that Adam and Eve were nude in front of each other before the Fall. So if the object of our moral quandary (in this case, nudity in art) is not inherently sinful, then we must turn to the next aspect of the moral act, the intention.
Does the depiction of nudity intend to cause the person viewing it to lust? That is, is the nudity deliberately presented in such a way that the figure or person depicted “becomes an object of base pleasure” (CCC 2354)? When it does, depictions of nudity cross the line and become pornography. Works of art that are intended to celebrate the goodness of the human form (such as the statue of David) or pre-Fall humanity (such as Adam and Eve in the Garden) are not intended—nor are they presented in such a way—to reduce the subject of the depiction to a mere object.
The intention and the presentation must both be a chaste depiction of nudity. One could not present nudity in an objectively provocative way and claim it was not intended to cause a lustful response. Poses or exaggerated physical features, that are clearly meant to illicit a response of lust rather than a response of rejoicing in the goodness of our created bodies, would be sinful. This is not the case, though, for the statue of David or the depictions of nudity in the Sistine Chapel.
There is always a danger when trying to combat the oversexualization of our culture that we go too far and inadvertently contribute to it by reducing everything to sex. Looking at the statute of David and seeing it as a sexual depiction does not help correct our culture’s issues, but feeds it. We should be trying to elevate our culture beyond seeing all aspects of life through the lens of sex, not doing it ourselves.
It is important to remember the words of our Lord: “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).
It can be easy to blame external things for our sin, especially when it comes to lust, whether that be something in a movie or TV, or how someone is dressed, or a work of art. External things are merely temptations. They become sin when we allow them to enter our hearts. At the end of the day, it is up to us to stop blaming external things for our sin and instead focus our attention on cooperating with the grace that God gives us to grow in chastity so that, no matter what we may see, sin cannot enter our heart, because it is too full of God’s grace.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
