If you’ve ever taken a child to an art museum, chances are that they’ll quickly point out that “those people don’t have any clothes on!” Nude art—whether in paintings or statues—has been part of our artistic tradition for thousands of years, but that doesn’t stop kids from getting the giggles.
As a parent, you might hesitate and wonder whether you should be allowing your children to see these images. After all, we’re becoming more and more conscious that pornography does great harm to children and to adults and will go to great lengths to protect our children from exposure to naked images.
However, while both pornography and a lot of art show unclothed people, there are some key distinctions. The primary one is that pornography is designed to arouse people sexually. At least when we’re speaking of classical nude art, its purpose is to show the beauty of the human form—usually with an air of innocence and beauty.
So should your children look at nude art? Should you? Here are a few points to consider:
Do you personally find nude art to be sexually provocative?
Regardless of the artist’s intent, if you find nude forms to be a source of temptation for you, then you may choose to stay away. Especially if you are struggling with using pornography, if this kind of art is a trigger, there are always other galleries in the art museum!
Are you willing to talk to your children about art?
Chances are, your kids will be stifling some laughs when they see pieces of nude art. That’s a pretty normal kid reaction. However, it also can be a great opportunity to let them know that the human body is something designed by God to be beautiful. In fact, artists considered it to be one of the greatest skills to be able to effectively capture the magnificence of the human form. While there are some images and videos that seek to degrade our bodies and sexuality, this art shows the wonder of God’s creation.
Does your child feel comfortable asking you questions about the human body?
When it comes to building a relationship of trust with our kids, these questions can lead to important learning moments. Your younger kids might have questions about the human body itself and the difference in female and male body parts. Older kids may feel a bit uncomfortable, confused about why they feel embarrassed or even attracted to the art. This can actually be a great, safe, opportunity to talk about a little bit about human sexuality or simply to experience together that the naked human body itself is actually good and beautiful, when depicted in the right way.
So will you take your kids to art museums where they’ll see nude art? It will probably depend on your personal circumstances. But if you do, prepare yourself that your kids might have questions. Or they may not pay much attention at all—after all, the human body is one of the most natural things in the world.
It is just art. Just paint on a canvas. Does the paint sin? No. We sin when we make of the art something it should not be. We as humans can become aroused from all sorts of things we see. The sin is not in the seeing but in the “and” I.E. David saw Bathsheba, “and” . Also, The Catholic Church has little problem with nude art just visit the Vatican. Lastly, I see nude art as a que to me as a parent to speak with my children about a whole host of things. Everything from where is her arms, why did they not cover him up, to the artiest really worked to cut the marble in and polish it really well here. When we admire the work, we begin to see the real beauty of art.
So, if I decide to paint a picture from Penthouse, it’s just art? Just oil on canvas, right?
This is one of those topics that’s complicated in its simplicity. There are many nudes, especially in the classical canon, that respectfully show the human body. That kind of art is a great counter to the porn culture, which denigrates the human body and thus the human person. But, it’s not all or nothing… Just because an image is purportedly “art,” even when it’s in a major museum, doesn’t mean that
I feel drenched in covetousness when I look at “The Temptation of Saint Hilarion”
I guess that answers Cailtin’s first question: “Do you personally find the nude art to be sexually provocative?”
Thank you for sharing. Luke Gilkerson, did it ever strike you as a bad idea to recreate, visually, an act of temptation? The artist is talented. We should not glorify art or human talent so much that we throw out morality. The image is pornographic.
Of course it occurred to me. I was merely replying to James’ thought.
I hope that I wrote a little more concisely on the matter in a recent post:
http://addictionbattle.blogspot.com/2015/10/lightcore-porn-whether-or-not-art-can.html
Thanks for sharing this good food for thought.
you have to wonder at these kinds of comments, I mean these appear to be the type of people who are holier than the Pope. The human form is made in the image of God. Our bodies are a temple which is why we need to protect them and cover them. But that doesn’t mean nudity in art is a scene. Sure some of the nihilistic extremist art that you see today doesn’t fit that bill because it is trying to draw an extreme reaction. But the art in our museums and at the Vatican is not a sin. I really feel sorry for people who are so ready to judge and can’t even enjoy something as magnificent as classical art. You still have a beam in your own eye.
Well, “Me”, it’s easy to be a keyboard warrior and sacrifice people on the altar of judgementalism. The definition of sin is “missing the mark” (hamartia, in the Greek). We should constantly be questioning ourselves in the faith and moving toward a more holy way of living (and I doubt that the pope is a good example of that). Paul had a lot of advice about this, and if you looked to the scripture references that I gave, it would be more obvious that you are willing to seek the full counsel of scripture, rather than just come up with some sort of arbitrary judgement of your own.
I am not judging anyone here. If someone thinks that they can stare at the nude form of the opposite sex and not be affected by it, then I believe you are fooling yourself. This is not to say that you are in judgement of hellfire, which would be the very definition of judgementalism; nor am I saying that you are lesser in your faith as a result of holding your opinion. But I do think that we can fool ourselves into believing that some that is sin is completely normal. That is why our society is full of people that think that porn is normal and not a sin. Get to the heart and core of why porn is a sin, and you’ll find why it is abnormal and missing the mark for the artist to bring in real live nude models and paint them on canvas for all the world to see. Norms, folkways, and morays change, the word of God and the nature of God does not.
I completely agree. These people are crazy.
It is not art. It is pornography.
Not everybody agree with your views.
Nudity in art was the first step toward public acceptance of pornography, in my opinion. There is no reason for it. I think JeremiahP may have incorrectly addressed nudity’s shamefulness as relates to the Bible. Adam and Eve were nude until they fell. It is the fallen nature of man that makes nudity shameful, not nudity itself. The fallen nature of man is incapable of separating nudity from impurity when there is any lack of innocence.
This is why, when a three year old takes off their clothes and runs through the dinner party, it is funny and not lewd. But as soon as nudity is related to a lack of innocence, e.g. naked paintings of women for men to view, it becomes sinful. The painter has sinned, the model has sinned and the viewers have, at the very least, been placed in the occasion of sin. Granted, not every viewer of nudity sins. Many look away. Particularly, a woman viewing another woman’s naked form may be able to look without even the sin of jealousy. But, the risk for sin is there when it need not be.
Nudity can be necessary. Doctors and nurses often must see their patients naked. I believe God grants special graces in these situations, at least when they are asked for. But “artful” nudity is unnecessary. We are not hedonistic ancient Greeks. We do not believe that man is the ultimate object of art. At least, that is not what I have been taught through my faith. Art, like all things, should be done for the greater glory of God. If something requires any sin, and I would posit even knowingly creates an occasion of sin, it lacks glory for God. It is also something that is simply unnecessary. Why take the risk?
Greg, to your question, the commands of God to his prophet Isaiah in 20:2, and in other prophets situations (Micah offered it up, was not commanded), and in the situations where others went naked, it was obviously a sign of extreme mourning and vile circumstances. There are many, many illustrations in prophecy that are vile in nature – emissions of large black men being akin to horses, prostitutes in their various mannerisms, etc. These are extreme circumstances and should not be considered the norm, nor license to practice these things as a part of regular culture. Christian women are commanded to dress modestly. Whenever nudity is present in the OT, it is clear that it should be treated as extreme, with embarrassment, and not worthy of holy mannerisms. The prophesies all too often speak of nudity as the state of a whore or prostitute, that they publicly flash their wares to the all too willing Israel – in such circumstances, they are illustrations and live examples of Israel that had “prostituted” themselves to idols and other worldly behaviors. Not examples of acceptable behavior.
By the way, I have also heard of people argue that nudity in movies is OK, because it is art and it is not always used to evoke lust purposefully in the viewer, but to merely depict the love between two characters. HOGWASH. If you take it one step further, it becomes porn, whether it evokes lust in the viewer or not (again, more than likely due to desensitization in our sexualized culture). We are not meant to look upon the nudity of any person – Noah’s sons backed into his tent to cover his nakedness after a night of revelry, and only the son that gazed upon his nakedness was cursed. That was his own father! We certainly are not allowed to gaze upon the nude form of the opposite gender, because of the mere possibility of unrighteousness, which we are told to avoid even the possible image of being sinful/unrighteous in the NT. So what is the excuse for looking at nudity in any form, if we are to avoid the possibility that we might be sinning?
@ JeremiahP: So how do you feel about God commanding his prophet Micah to go nude for three years?
Dr. James McKeever has a very well-written article about this in his book, “It’s in the Bible”; just a few of his thoughts:
“Let me repeat once more: God wants us to be pure and clean, morally and sexually. He does not even want lust in our hearts, much less in our activities. But we cannot jump from that to a condemnation of all nudity. It occurs today in some circumstances and has through the centuries, at times even at God’s command. In no way am I advocating nudity. I am advocating a realistic view of God, the God who commanded one of His prophets to go nude for three years. Does your God condemn all nudity?”
For the record, the story about Noah’s nakedness is, when you get into biblical scholarship and cultural history, a euphemism for incest. Noah’s younger son took advantage of his father’s drunkenness in order to rape his own mother, as a ploy to get more power in the family (because he wasn’t the firstborn heir). That was something that, as vile as it is, wasn’t unheard of during biblical times. People reading/listening to Scripture thousands of years ago would have automatically known what that passage was referring to, but for us the reference is lost without further explanation. Our bodies aren’t evil. Displaying them with the intention of tempting others or due to carelessness (not bothering to pull your pants up if they slide, etc) are the sin.
Should Kids See Nude Art? Should You? – No is the answer to both questions. That should have been the shortest article ever. There is a reason why Adam and Eve had to cover their nudity, because there was a new found impropriety at being nude, there was a shame in it, and they needed to cover it, and God finally did it for them with skins rather than leaves. All throughout the OT are illustrations about how nakedness is shameful. If you are able to look upon the nude form of a woman without any shame, then there is likely something wrong with your desensitized reaction to a state of undress that God clearly says is dishonorable.
Well, someone would have to “look upon the nude form of a woman without any shame” in order to bear children. unless you think children are the creation of sin. Checkmate, Christian.
@atheist adventurer, through a Christian worldview, there’s no shame in the sexual intimacy that I enjoy with my wife. At least there isn’t supposed to be. My own baggage or misconceptions might cause me to feel shameful, but that is not God’s design. A more intense study of the Hebrew that the Genesis 3 account was written gives us clues that the shame felt by Adam and Eve wasn’t simply due to their nakedness, but that there was maybe a connection between their nakedness and the choice they had just made. That’s an entirely separate explanation, but my point is that naked doesn’t automatically = shame. For example, if were hiking in the woods, and I discovered a partially naked woman who was left for dead by an assailant, my instinct would be to cover her and do whatever I could to save her life. I’ve attached no shame to that kind of nakedness in my heart. On the other hand, if I’m looking out our bedroom window and see my neighbor unclothed and I continue to stare, then I’ve crossed over into territory where I’ve allowed lust and desire to take root in my heart. Again, I have a Christian worldview, which you may not agree with, but I hope those explanation make some sense. It’s almost always an issue of the heart and not the simple outward action. If outward action were all that mattered, then all those people attending church would be awesome Christians, but you and I both know that’s just not true :)
Be well – Chris
Amen!!!