Why did ancient Greece develop nude art? Why is Venus called the God of Beauty?

When we appreciate western body art, we will find the influence of ancient Greek culture on European art, which is a kind of recognition, appreciation and love for ourselves.

The body art left over from the golden age of ancient Greek art, as a model of beauty, is beyond the reach of any other era, any society or any nation. The human body statues in ancient Greece are not only perfect in shape, but also can fully express the artist's thoughts and feelings. Such as: Aphrodite of Cornidos, Aphrodite of Milos, laocoon, etc.

Their authors use the human body as an artistic language to convey the spiritual strength of human beings, affirm the value of human life, show the harmonious unity of a sound soul and a strong body, praise human wisdom and strength, and show human dignity and self-esteem. In this regard, the Russian writer Turgenev once wrote in his novel: Aphrodite of Milos is more unquestionable than the declaration of human rights of the French Revolution. It means that the former may be more powerful in defending human dignity.

Then we can't help asking: Why did the ancient Greek city-states that were still in the primitive clan society and just turned to slave society more than two thousand years ago create such a series of beautiful and moving statues? Moreover, from the works of ancient Greek body art, people will also find that the theme of ancient Greek body art, besides the characters mainly from Greek mythology, is to express the image of athletes, while ancient Greek statues often take the form of nudity. Why are these situations formed?

About 3000 years ago, countless city-states appeared in the Aegean Sea, and all citizens of the city-states owned slaves. Life was simple at that time. For leisure citizens, there are only two responsibilities: public affairs and war.

At that time, wars were all hand-to-hand combat, and every soldier had to exercise well. The stronger he is, the more energetic he is. Young people spend most of their time practicing naked fighting, jumping, boxing, running and throwing discus in the gym to make bare muscles strong. This is the special education in Greece.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Greeks, the ideal figure is a human body with strong skills, well-developed, well-proportioned and good at various sports. The Greeks followed the example of beautiful bodies, so those with beautiful bodies became idols and heroes. Based on this idea, sculpture nudity naturally became the mainstream of art at that time.