While scores of plump, half-dressed women are hallmarks of Renaissance paintings, modern full figured art is also widely available. If you thought that the plus size figure was only celebrated centuries ago, some of today's artists are changing that idea by focusing on the curvy woman in their artwork.
Modern Art That Appreciates Your Body
Not all artists who love the full figured form lived in centuries past. With a little bit of searching, you can find modern art that features the plus size woman in all sorts of positive ways.
NEDIC
NEDIC, or the National Eating Disorder Information Center, encourages women to accept their body size as is and not worry about conforming to unrealistic ideals as portrayed on television and in countless magazines. Inexpensive posters and postcards display the plus size body in positive images perfect for giving you a lift.
African Sculptures
Many traditional African sculptures of the female body feature a woman with large breasts and often a round belly, which symbolizes fertility. Displaying art pieces like this will remind you that there are still cultures around the world that don't believe "thin is in."
Classic Paintings
For the art collector, owning an original painting done by a famous artist is often a dream that's never realized. Paintings created by such masters as da Vinci, Botticelli, Titian, Raphael and Michaelangelo hang in museums and sell for millions of dollars at auctions. You can still hang a picture like Venus with a Mirror on your wall-in print form. Some recreations of famous art pieces that featured the celebrated female body of the time (that is, a rounded, untanned figure) include:
- The Mona Lisa - Maybe she's smiling because she's not on a diet. While the Mona Lisa isn't one of the plumpest figures in Renaissance art, her rounded hands and full bosom, and the fact that she has been proclaimed beautiful throughout the ages, indicate that she possessed the desired womanly body.
- The Venus of Urbino focuses on the sensual, full bodied nudity of the central figure. As with many paintings of this era, Venus images were usually only partially clad, if at all.
- In The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, the Virgin Mary is portrayed, as she often was in paintings of this time period, as healthy and robust. Almost all Madonna images of the Renaissance age feature a rounder Virgin.
Surround Yourself with Full Figured Art
You don't have to be an art connoisseur to decorate your home with artistic pieces; you just have to know what you like and what makes you feel good. It can sometimes be disheartening for plus size women to see nothing but ultra-skinny bodies on magazine covers, but remember that the super thin beauty ideal the media seems to exemplify is out of reach for the vast majority of adult women. If you're ready to face images of artwork that give a positive spin on the curvaceous frame, try shopping for prints of Renaissance art or create new classics by supporting modern artists who feature plus size women in their artistic visions.
Art in All Forms
Whether you want to hang paintings or prints, or just love the austerity in black and white photographs, there is art celebrating the full figure in all forms that will make you feel good every time you look at it. You don't have to cave in to societal pressure to be a size that's unhealthy for you; instead, appreciate your body and celebrate the plus size woman in all artistic ways.
