Standing Nude Woman 1540 - 1556

Léon Davent created this engraving, *Standing Nude Woman*, sometime in the mid-16th century. At this time, the female nude was a way for male artists to show off their skill and imagination, often drawing inspiration from classical sculptures of goddesses like Venus. However, Davent’s figure departs from idealized beauty standards: her form is fleshy and rendered with an interest in the particular rather than the ideal. She stands in a domestic interior, close to a draped chair. Her hand is raised to her neck in a gesture that seems less about alluring display and more about introspection. There’s a tension here – this is a nude, and yet she almost seems like she could be caught unawares in a moment of private reflection. Is this Davent's way of bringing a humanist perspective to the traditional nude, acknowledging the inner life of his subject, or is it another version of the male gaze? What do you think?