"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Quiz

Answer: A little dog

"Venus of Urbino" was painted by the famous Italian artist Titian, some time between 1532-1534. It portrays a young comfortably naked woman, thought to represent the goddess Venus, resting on a couch set in sumptuous surroundings. This work is often described as being erotic and sensual, but I can't see that myself. It seems, rather, to have more of a simple and almost innocent appeal. The model holds a small bunch of roses in one hand, while the other modestly covers her nether regions. Emphasising this lack of sensuality is the image of a little dog in the background. We are informed that dogs often represent faithfulness in works of art. Further in the background again, two maids can be seen sorting through a chest of clothes, seeking, no doubt, suitable apparel for our naked Venus on the couch.

(Question and additional information by Creedy)

Answer: The age of the model

Juergen Teller (born in 1964) is a German artist and photographer. He has had a long association with designers and houses of fashion throughout his career, and it is from those that he has drawn many of his models. One of these lovelies was British fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood, who was born in 1941. The artist has featured Vivienne completely nude, lying on a rather lovely tapestry couch, with her flaming red hair standing out in stark contrast to the almost translucent skin tones of her body.

Vivienne was aged 72 when she posed for this work, and the artist's skill is such that he completely convinces the viewer of the beauty of the female form, no matter how many calendar years have been added to its frame. I'd quite willingly hang this beautiful work in my home - and would dearly love to own the tapestry couch as well.

(Question and additional information by Creedy)

Answer: Cupid

The "Rokeby Venus" (1647-51) has several alternative titles, including "The Toilet of Venus", "Venus at Her Mirror", and "Venus and Cupid". It became known as the "Rokeby Venus" after it was moved to Rokeby Park in England in 1813. In the painting, Venus has her back to the painter, and her son Cupid is holding a mirror for her. This painting is an example of what has come to be known as the Venus effect. Viewers of the painting think that Venus is admiring herself, but given the reflection of Venus in the mirror, it is actually impossible. The reality is that she is looking at the reflection of the painter.

Due to the control of the Spanish Inquisition, nudes were not very common in the art of 17th-century Spain. Because of this, the "Rokeby Venus" is the only surviving example of a female nude by Velazquez.

(Question and additional information by tiffanyram)

Answer: His second wife, Helene

By today's standards, Rubens' nudes would be considered quite heavy. But his presentation of the female body - voluptuous, dripping with cellulite, very like an earth mother - created a unique adjective that described this type of woman: "Rubenesque". His second wife, Helene, is easily identifiable in some of his most famous nude paintings, which were created in the last decade of his life. He married 16-year-old Helene, the niece of his first wife Isabella, in 1630, when he was 53. Then he immediately made her the centrepiece of many of his nudes. His most famous nudes include "The Three Graces" (the leftmost of the three); "The Feast of Venus"; and "Helene Fourment in a Fur Wrap" (also known as "Het Pelsken") as she is coming out of the bath. Rubens' paintings of nude women are remarkable for his obvious adoration of the realistic forms he gives the women.

Rubens painted no nudes of his eldest daughter, Clara Serena, who died at the age of 12. But he did paint at least two lovingly-rendered portraits of her: one at the age of five and one within a year of her death. There are no known nude paintings of his first wife, Isabella. He also did not paint any nudes of French Queen Marie de Medici. But de Medici herself - clearly impressed with his work - commissioned him to paint 24 portraits of events in her life.

(Question and additional information by goodreporter)

Answer: His sister, Princess Pauline Borghese

Known as being promiscuous, empty-headed, vain and quite beautiful, Pauline Bonaparte was her brother's most loyal sibling. That made her immune from his wrath over the scandalous life she led. She was rumoured to have bedded many of Napoleon's top officers, and other members of the military as well. It was her second husband, Prince Camillo Borghese, who paid noted Italian sculptor Antonio Canova to sculpt the marble statue of her reclining mostly nude on a sofa, as "Venus Victorious". The lower part of her body covered in a cloth, the only other adornments to her were a bracelet on her right arm and an apple she was holding in her left hand. Pauline reportedly loved the statue of herself. There are mixed reports about whether her husband loved it or hated it. The statue of the beautiful sensuous woman is still on display today in Rome's Borghese Gallery.

Pauline went with Napoleon to Elba and returned to France with him during the hundred days he tried to regain his empire. Although she repeatedly petitioned the British to allow her to join him in his last exile on the island of St. Helena, they refused. She died at the age of 44 in 1825.

(Question and additional information by goodreporter)

Answer: Titian

Giorgione, a member of the Venetian school of the High Renaissance, died at a young age, around 32 or 33 years old. There are elements of this painting that are more reminiscent of Titian's later styles than of Giorgione's. Some of these elements include the color of the drapery, parts of the landscape, and the head of Venus. Some records show that Giorgione had left the landscape unfinished, and it has traditionally been believed that Titian completed this part, though there is some disagreement as to how much Giorgione actually contributed to the painting. Originally, Cupid was beside the feet of the Venus, but this was covered up during restoration work done to the painting in the 19th century.

Titian was a contemporary of Giorgione, and a member of the Venetian school. He was a very versatile painter, and some of his other works include "Assumption of the Virgin", "Bacchus and Ariadne", and "The Crowning with Thorns".

(Question and additional information by tiffanyram)

Answer: The Naked Maja

Painted between 1797-1800, "The Naked Maja", or "La maja desnuda", features a nude woman laying on a bed with pillows. It was most likely commissioned by the Prime Minister of Spain, Manuel de Godoy, and was found in his possession by investigators for the Inquisition. Goya was called before the Inquisition to explain why he painted it, and for whom. While there are no exact records of what he said, it was noted that he was following a certain tradition, one that included Velazquez's "Rokeby Venus" which had hung in the private collection of King Phillip IV of Spain. Goya was not punished, but the painting itself spent some time in the hands of the Inquisition.

"The Naked Maja" has a companion painting called "The Clothed Maja" ("La maja vestida"). The two paintings are always hung together. It is uncertain who was the model for the paintings, but some suggest that it was either Godoy's mistress, Pepita Tudó, or the Duchess of Alba.

(Question and additional information by tiffanyram)

Answer: It was one of the first life sized sculptures of a naked female

This sculpture of the nude Aphrodite by Praxiteles of Athens was one of the first works created in answer to the ubiquitous nude male sculptures found dotting the landscape everywhere during the glorious days of Ancient Greece. Aphrodite is shown, preparing for a bath to restore her purity, with towel in hand, and the other hand modestly covering her pubic area. She was created, it is said, to satisfy the gaze of ardent males, and her form, accordingly, is gracefully shaped from every angle.

Praxiteles was one of the most famous of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BCE, and the first to give the world a life-sized nude female form, so one imagines his work made quite a ripple through the society of the time. It led to the creation of this famous short verse that has been handed down to us through time:

"Paris did see me naked,
Adonis, and Anchises,
except I knew all three of them.
Where did the sculptor see me?"

The answer to that is that the model for this work was his lover, the renowned Greek courtesan, Phrynne, who was rather noted for her misbehaviour in this regard.

(Question and additional information by Creedy)

Answer: Amedeo Modigliani

"Nude Sitting on a Divan" also known as "The Beautiful Roman Woman" gives us a rather lovely, partially covered woman sitting on a couch against a deep red background. Many of Modligliani's painting of nude women have often been described as erotic. Be that as it may, and bearing in mind that every viewer of a work of art sees in that work what he or she wishes to see, this particular beautiful naked Roman woman seems to be more intoxicated than sexual from my perspective. Her skins tones are absolutely lovely however, and, in contrast to the pure white translucent tones in many, many other works of nude females over time, this model speaks to us of warm and glowing Mediterranean health. It's quite a lovely work of art.

Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian-Jewish artist who spent most of his creative life in France. How confusing for his genes. He is noted for his modern style nudes both on canvas and in sculpted form. Sadly he didn't live terribly long for the world to fully appreciate all he could have given it, for he died at the age of 35 from meningitis.

(Question and additional information by Creedy)

Answer: Its lack of anatomical balance

"Grande Odalisque" is also known as "Une Odalisque" or "La Grande Odalisque". It was painted in 1814 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and features a concubine looking rather sulkily over her right shoulder at the viewer. Napoleon's sister, Queen Caroline Murat of Naples, commissioned this work - for whom is not known - but its completed work is decidedly peculiar, anatomically speaking. From her waist to her feet, the unfortunate concubine in this work is about twice the size of the top half of her body, her spine is way too long for the rest of her body, and her overly enlarged buttocks seems to be added on, not only as an afterthought, but in the wrong position as well. In fact, this unfortunate lady of the harem seems to have been endowed with the lower anatomy of a kangaroo - minus its tail.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) earned his living by painting portraits for most of his life, but he liked to consider himself a painter of history. His portraits of the various gentlemen who adorned his canvasses seem to be perfectly fine anatomically, but even his clothed females can be disconcertingly out of proportion. For a start, he gives many of them extra long necks. Based on his misalignment of the female form then, thank goodness he didn't make his fame based on his historical interpretations of the world. Otherwise, in the words of Henry Ford, history really would be bunk.

(Question and additional information by Creedy)