Plot Synopsis

THE NUDE IN ART explores the sustaining significance of the nude figure in art and how different depictions of the nude figure have characterized civilizations. Each episode of this four-part series explores a different period, including: "Classical," focusing on classical representations of the female body, starting with the Venus of Willendorf -- the earliest known nude figure from 22,000 BC; "Renaissance," highlighting the works of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Giotto and celebrating a time where the naked form was celebrated and idealized; "Enlightenment," showing how depictions of the naked body have expressed the experience of nirvana through the act of making love, and the descent into hell after promiscuity; "Modern," looking at how modern film changed and romanticized the image of the nude while physical realism entered into the canon of nude depictions. Ovation aired the U.S. premiere of THE NUDE IN ART on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 10pm with back-to-back episodes as part of its 2010 "Body by Ovation" event.