Drie liggende mannen 1510 - 1546

Giulio Romano made this drawing of three reclining men sometime in the first half of the 16th century. The flowing lines and the focus on the male nude tell us about the artist's social and intellectual milieu. Romano was working in Italy, at a time when the rediscovery of classical antiquity was having a profound impact on artistic production and the way the artists thought about their role in society. The nude was not merely an aesthetic form, but it was loaded with cultural meaning. In the art academies, male nudes were used to represent and explore the ideas of heroism, and beauty. We know from the art of the Renaissance that the institutions that trained artists had a profound impact on both how artists worked, and what art was for. Understanding art requires us to examine the visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations that inform it. We need to look at how artists are trained, what their patrons wanted, and how art was used to express the values of the time.