Nude Statues in Paris, France

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Nude Statues in Paris, France

Image Source

Here I am. The city of art, of enlightenment, of love. (Which reminds me that my boyfriend and I are going to be in Europe for the next five weeks, so I probably won't be posting as much.)

And everywhere, what do I see? Statues.

And what do many of these statues have in common? Nudity.

Image Source

Bare breasts, obvious vagina's, chiseled penises and bums everywhere. Today alone, for a few hours of walking around and exploring Notre Dame, a bit of the Louvre, and Jardin des Tuileries, my boyfriend ended up with pictures of about thirty separate statues that were naked.

These statues aren't ugly. They aren't lascivious little whore-sculptures that raise a boner in every man's pants. (My boyfriend can attest to that fact. He was actually more interested in one statue's feet than her boobies. She had some LONG toes.)

You know what would be ugly, though? Covering them up. Throwing those silly, useless plastic blue covers over them - to censor them. To "protect" the eyes of the world.

But good thing these statues remain exposed. Good thing they remain free. Good thing they remain symbols of art, enlightenment, and love - and of what those things truly mean.

Art. Beauty. Freedom. Why so feared? Why so loathed?

How do you feel about nude states as art abroad?

recommend
recs 5
share
email
sent 0

Comments (23)

Paris the capital city of Haute Couture, and they have nude statues! Nudity is art, don't kill art because of nudity!
- 11/22/2009 6:30 PM
- x_Reckless_x@xanga (message)
- reply
I think statues or art of any kind give a city culture and substance, unlike the constant stream of strip malls and McDonalds signs I see in my town.
- 11/22/2009 6:28 PM
- Liz
- reply
I think nudity reflects the natural essence of purity and beauty. Nothing contrived, nothing to hide.
- 11/22/2009 7:02 PM
- Parsimony@xanga (message)
- reply
I think they're just as fine as other statues, for the most part.
- 11/22/2009 7:02 PM
- decembriel@xanga (message)
- reply
Doesn't bother me. I appreciate it for the art that it is.
- 11/22/2009 7:34 PM
- ccarothers@xanga (message)
- reply
Nudie statues! The ones with the small peepees should be covered to protect their integrity. :P he he
- 11/22/2009 7:34 PM
- ShimmerBodyCream@xanga (message)
- reply
Oh... I think there is a typo in that last question.
- 11/22/2009 7:35 PM
- ShimmerBodyCream@xanga (message)
- reply
*gasp* Those slutty whore-statues, how could they be so shameless!
I find it strange how we can be offended by non-erotic nudity in art, but have no problem with highly eroticized figures in advertisements. How does a nipple make that much of a difference?
- 11/22/2009 8:21 PM
- just_the_average_jane@xanga (message)
- reply
This is why the US is so sexually frustrated. We have to pretend the naked human body doesn't exist.
- 11/22/2009 8:35 PM
- Lordv16@xanga (message)
- reply
Meh. I like the Italian statues better.
- 11/22/2009 8:57 PM
- Werewolf@mancouch (message)
- reply
"How do you feel about nude states as art abroad?"
What the f~ck??? Nude STATES??
Where?? WHERE???
- 11/22/2009 9:01 PM
- Werewolf@mancouch (message)
- reply
I find it perfectly normal. No big deal.
- 11/22/2009 9:53 PM
- L_O_R_D_X101@xanga (message)
- reply
I didn't know anyone had a problem with nude art...
- 11/22/2009 10:21 PM
- nodnarbassoon@xanga (message)
- reply
I love nude art, it's some of my favorite. It's so free and full of expression. It's not something you see much of in America (compared to Europe)...
- 11/22/2009 11:25 PM
- suggestive815air (message)
- reply
A couple friends of mine just came back from a trip to Romania and the parks there had nudie statues too. I love that Europe is so progressive in that regard. Here in North America people seem really uptight about the human body. I think we need to take some pointers from the Europeans!
- 11/23/2009 12:20 AM
- Persiankitty@xanga (message)
- reply
The naked body is nothing new, it has been in art work for centuaries, some of the greatest master pieces of the world, are reflections of the pureness of the naked form. A beauty which ou don't see much of nowadays, with all the zero size models, and kids dieting at really young ages.
- 11/23/2009 2:38 PM
- shintai88@xanga (message)
- reply
I think America is too uptight about nudity.
Take this for example: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6406630/Man-arrested-for-making-coffee-in-own-home-while-naked.html
- 11/23/2009 8:55 PM
- Twelve91Twelve@xanga (message)
- reply
I love erotica.

Chiseled penises...LOL.
- 11/24/2009 4:02 PM
- DAMN_itsz_KRYSIE@xanga (message)
- reply
Nudity isn't as sexualized in Europe as it is in the United States, and thank god for that. Obviously they understand that there is a DISTINCT difference between a naked body and a sexual one. I'm glad this blog wants the statues to remain in the state in which they were created. It's absurd to think that one should want something that is only a representation, and not an actual human body to be restricted in the same manner because of held Puritanical beliefs.
- 11/24/2009 7:11 PM
- loli_feathers@xanga (message)
- reply
I agree with all that's been said here.. Most excellent art involves nudity, especially greek statues but they censored men genitalia and made them as boy's anatomy even on adult models.

Sometimes it's not so sublte though like Courbet's Origin of the world

Do you guys know about the turtle boy statue ? That is not tasteful nudity lol
- 11/24/2009 10:52 PM
- mysterygirl3000@xanga (message)
- reply
"The city of art, of enlightenment, of love."
EL OH FUCKING EL
- 11/25/2009 2:21 AM
- tjordanm@xanga (message)
- reply
Because those that are less mature only see the naked form as sexual. End of story. It's a tragedy, I know.
- 11/25/2009 2:51 AM
- angelwingfive@xanga (message)
- reply
It's fine. The naked human body has been celebrated as art for many years. I don't see how it's a problem.
- 11/25/2009 10:14 AM
- sincerely_winnie@xanga (message)
- reply