I have read that, when asked why he had painted so many naked people on the ceiling of a church, Michelangelo’s response was:
“What spirit is so empty, what eye so blind, that it cannot see that the foot is more beautiful than the shoe, and the skin more lovely than the garment in which it is clothed?”
It’s been 500 years and most people still haven’t caught up with him. As your piece points out so well, the world would be a much better place if we did.
Glad you liked it. You’ll like this even more. The guy who was so disapproving of Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the chapel was a bishop, and Michelangelo never forgot the insult, and 16 years later when he was asked to come back and paint the Last Judgment on the wall of the chapel, he painted that bishop in hell, with a special torment that fit the insult. He painted the bishop nude, with a huge serpent wrapped around him, and with the serpent’s massive fangs chewing on the bishop’s cock. And this part of the painting is right next to the door you come through when you enter the chapel so you can’t miss it. Just Google “The Last Judgment” and zoom into the bottom right corner and you’ll see it.
This was gorgeous. I want to come back again and again and savor the deeper truths in here... sooo much I resist about myself. To embrace would unfuck so many things.
i'm so glad you enjoyed it Megan... ane yes, it's deep territory, a lifetime of exploration i think. i have this little saying i remind myself of: go fuck yourself to unfuck yourself. to be applied in any way you like ♥️
SO, if you’re not willing to be with your naked body, you have a lot to learn.” SO true! I’ve experienced this myself in real time….. it’s a magical thing!
Great advice! I’ve actually started to take more self portraits to really look at and accept my body. To appreciate it for what it is instead of what I wish it would be.
If we are lucky to reach old age, what a gift we would have given ourselves to have stacks and digital folders full of photographs of us through the years.
"To appreciate it for what it is instead of what I wish it would be." What a beautiful practice. Makes me think about how we can only create change when we begin from exactly where we are.
i think you’re right, and i am speaking primarily to women from my own feminine perspective. while men definitely experience insecurity and disconnection, it is amplified in women, especially as she is “the earth”, the physical, movement, feeling - while the masculine is more rooted in spaciousness, presence, structure, mission to feel connected (from what i have experienced). would be interested to hear more of your perspective on this if you want to share.
Yes, we should do it more often, for ourselves. Not as something to share with the world, but truly for our own sake. Self-love matters more than the approval of any dubious audience. Be your own audience. Love yourself. And undress. It works wonders. Trust me
Absolutely love this. I'm nearly 50 and my photo feed is full of naked selfies. I have to move away from my adult kids when I'm scrolling for a picture, just because their mama's nude body is everywhere! LOL. I feel hot and secure, and I love looking at the photos I've been taking all through my adult life, ever since digital cameras arrived. Thankful for this journey with my body. And thank you for the reminder to keep going!
Hahahaha I am very familiar with the challenge of opening the photo gallery publicly. How wonderful to know that you’ve been doing this for so long. And yes! Keep going! I will too :)
god i LOVE writings about nudity, eroticism, self-love and everything in between - my only issue is the utter gender envy it gives me because i feel theres a limited beauty to the masculine form, theres only so much to view and be pleased with, only so much which has aesthetics at its core - but nontheless this was hard-hitting, gorgeous, and now i just want to get undressed in my chair lmfao but i shall resist - thanks for this
omg making people want to get undressed might be my favorite thing ever.
i wonder if that belief, that there's limited beauty to the masculine form is something to creatively challenge. michaelangelo (and many artists) may disagree with the sentiment... i know i've done my fair share of admiring the masculine form. idk.. maybe you should get undressed in your chair and see what's what ;)
I'd love to see it. creatively challenged - I think there's room to definitely explore it and I know it has been many times in the past, but I just feel in the modern day that I personally feel that there is a maximum sort of masculine beauty compared to the feminine - that doesn't mean that men can't tap into that feminine realm too, it's just limited in the masculinity side of it - very interesting to me and I would love to contribute my thoughts somehow
i think i understand what you mean (from my own limited feminine perspective) that there is a limited attention to a strictly masculine form beauty. maybe it's more about depth?
some of the most powerful experiences i've had of masculine beauty related to seeing the development of the physical form and making the connection to the work that went into creating that form. i'll be eager to hear more from you if you do go exploring
I might write a piece on this, I don't really understand what I mean fully anyways so it's got to be developed in my own head but I do think that what you say about the strictly masculine form of beauty being imited is what I mean -
It's quite a difficult thing to explain without going into depth I think, I'd love to hear some of your powerful experiences that you've had at some point as well
i look forward to whatever threads unravel in your head. and yes lets chat sometime. i'd love to share. i'll send you a message when i have more attention free
nudity has been simplified to erotic sexy means for too long. the naked body is wonderful art waiting to be uncovered from the confines of clothes. the naked sculptures of gods and high people were not for no reason, it was to show the beauty of that high power. every curve, every scar, every belly roll, every dent is just another part to add to the uniqueness and beauty of the art known as the human body.
This is a brilliant article, well said!
And I love the quote from Anaïs Nin, “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” - and all the depth that holds.
so glad you enjoyed it Andy, thank you! that Anaïs Nin does rear its head in many a circumstance.
I love this.
Sorry, but I can’t help myself:
Well, my body could use a little slimmin'
I keep my shirt on when I go swimmin'
And I ain't seen my feet since 1984
The old lady wants to roll in the hay
We turn the lights down all the way
Cuz I don't look good naked anymore
No I don't look good naked anymore
I'm a deep-fried, double-wide version of the man I was before
If I keep on like I'm doing I won't fit through the door
And I don't look good naked anymore
Well, I used to be a helluva man
I chopped wood with just one hand
But I can't do the things I've done before
Well, it all happened kinda slow
But I guess I kinda let myself go
Now I don't look good naked anymore
No I don't look good naked anymore
I'm a deep-fried, double-wide version of the man I was before
If I keep on like I'm doing I won't fit through the door
And I don't look good naked anymore
With each and every passing year
Came a lot of french fries and beer
And my belly hung a little closer to the floor
Now my belly is big as a truck
And the old lady don't wanna-- SHE DON'T WANNA!
Cuz I don't look good naked anymore
No I don't look good naked anymore
I'm a deep-fried, double-wide version of the man I was before If
I keep on like I'm doing I won't fit through the door
And I don't look good naked anymore
No I don't look good naked anymore
I'm a deep-fried, double-wide version of the man I was before
If I keep on like I'm doing I won't fit through the door
And I don't look good naked anymore
No I don't look good naked anymore
The first step is this ,this that you have done , acknowledging you are not where you want to be or where you were
You know it
Now take actions ,take steps to mitigate it
A little change in diet a little gymn
Petit un petit
Step by step
You will get back to your prime
Consistency and persistence
I have been there ,it gets better
Sending you hugs 🫂🫂
I have read that, when asked why he had painted so many naked people on the ceiling of a church, Michelangelo’s response was:
“What spirit is so empty, what eye so blind, that it cannot see that the foot is more beautiful than the shoe, and the skin more lovely than the garment in which it is clothed?”
It’s been 500 years and most people still haven’t caught up with him. As your piece points out so well, the world would be a much better place if we did.
Dave
wow I love this quote so much! thank you for sharing it, just gorgeous. and thank you for reading <3
Glad you liked it. You’ll like this even more. The guy who was so disapproving of Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the chapel was a bishop, and Michelangelo never forgot the insult, and 16 years later when he was asked to come back and paint the Last Judgment on the wall of the chapel, he painted that bishop in hell, with a special torment that fit the insult. He painted the bishop nude, with a huge serpent wrapped around him, and with the serpent’s massive fangs chewing on the bishop’s cock. And this part of the painting is right next to the door you come through when you enter the chapel so you can’t miss it. Just Google “The Last Judgment” and zoom into the bottom right corner and you’ll see it.
Yes! I’ve done exactly this. I used photography and video to heal and changed completely my relationship with my body.
how wonderful to hear this Georgia! it really is a powerful tool and experience.
This was gorgeous. I want to come back again and again and savor the deeper truths in here... sooo much I resist about myself. To embrace would unfuck so many things.
i'm so glad you enjoyed it Megan... ane yes, it's deep territory, a lifetime of exploration i think. i have this little saying i remind myself of: go fuck yourself to unfuck yourself. to be applied in any way you like ♥️
ooooooh I looooove that little saying! 🖤🖤🖤 I shall borrow!
“…. art is, at its heart, an erotic process.
SO, if you’re not willing to be with your naked body, you have a lot to learn.” SO true! I’ve experienced this myself in real time….. it’s a magical thing!
Powerful. And I think the power lies in knowing viscerally we are masterpieces despite our "imperfections."
I've definitely got work to do here, thanks for the reminder ❤️❤️🔥
yes, exactly! i've found this practice to be an expansive portal into that visceral experience because it brings the resistance front and center.
...i'll be doing the work with you ♥️🪞thanks for your reflection Holly
Great advice! I’ve actually started to take more self portraits to really look at and accept my body. To appreciate it for what it is instead of what I wish it would be.
If we are lucky to reach old age, what a gift we would have given ourselves to have stacks and digital folders full of photographs of us through the years.
"To appreciate it for what it is instead of what I wish it would be." What a beautiful practice. Makes me think about how we can only create change when we begin from exactly where we are.
I really wonder if it has the same impact on men it has on women. Think we are generally way less identified with our bodies.
i think you’re right, and i am speaking primarily to women from my own feminine perspective. while men definitely experience insecurity and disconnection, it is amplified in women, especially as she is “the earth”, the physical, movement, feeling - while the masculine is more rooted in spaciousness, presence, structure, mission to feel connected (from what i have experienced). would be interested to hear more of your perspective on this if you want to share.
Oh
I never used to be big on nudes until recently.. How dare I not have such a banger body in documentation?. Art. Portraits!
I love my naked body so much!
Yes, we should do it more often, for ourselves. Not as something to share with the world, but truly for our own sake. Self-love matters more than the approval of any dubious audience. Be your own audience. Love yourself. And undress. It works wonders. Trust me
Nudes? I call it historical documentation of my divine beauty
lol I support this in every way
Absolutely love this. I'm nearly 50 and my photo feed is full of naked selfies. I have to move away from my adult kids when I'm scrolling for a picture, just because their mama's nude body is everywhere! LOL. I feel hot and secure, and I love looking at the photos I've been taking all through my adult life, ever since digital cameras arrived. Thankful for this journey with my body. And thank you for the reminder to keep going!
Hahahaha I am very familiar with the challenge of opening the photo gallery publicly. How wonderful to know that you’ve been doing this for so long. And yes! Keep going! I will too :)
god i LOVE writings about nudity, eroticism, self-love and everything in between - my only issue is the utter gender envy it gives me because i feel theres a limited beauty to the masculine form, theres only so much to view and be pleased with, only so much which has aesthetics at its core - but nontheless this was hard-hitting, gorgeous, and now i just want to get undressed in my chair lmfao but i shall resist - thanks for this
omg making people want to get undressed might be my favorite thing ever.
i wonder if that belief, that there's limited beauty to the masculine form is something to creatively challenge. michaelangelo (and many artists) may disagree with the sentiment... i know i've done my fair share of admiring the masculine form. idk.. maybe you should get undressed in your chair and see what's what ;)
I'd love to see it. creatively challenged - I think there's room to definitely explore it and I know it has been many times in the past, but I just feel in the modern day that I personally feel that there is a maximum sort of masculine beauty compared to the feminine - that doesn't mean that men can't tap into that feminine realm too, it's just limited in the masculinity side of it - very interesting to me and I would love to contribute my thoughts somehow
i think i understand what you mean (from my own limited feminine perspective) that there is a limited attention to a strictly masculine form beauty. maybe it's more about depth?
some of the most powerful experiences i've had of masculine beauty related to seeing the development of the physical form and making the connection to the work that went into creating that form. i'll be eager to hear more from you if you do go exploring
I might write a piece on this, I don't really understand what I mean fully anyways so it's got to be developed in my own head but I do think that what you say about the strictly masculine form of beauty being imited is what I mean -
It's quite a difficult thing to explain without going into depth I think, I'd love to hear some of your powerful experiences that you've had at some point as well
i look forward to whatever threads unravel in your head. and yes lets chat sometime. i'd love to share. i'll send you a message when i have more attention free
awesome! talk to you then
nudity has been simplified to erotic sexy means for too long. the naked body is wonderful art waiting to be uncovered from the confines of clothes. the naked sculptures of gods and high people were not for no reason, it was to show the beauty of that high power. every curve, every scar, every belly roll, every dent is just another part to add to the uniqueness and beauty of the art known as the human body.
You wrote this in a way my mind could understand - thank you so much!
so glad it spoke to you Charlotte! thank you for reading <333