Figurine of a Woman

The Female Nude as Anatomical

It is in Florence (1780–82) that sculptor Clemente Susini created another sister: the ‘Anatomical Venus’.8 Glistening from the oiled wax of her skin, her glass eyes peer slightly downwards to her reclining body. Everything seems normal, except for her gaping torso and the innards placed neatly by her feet. Her goal: to contribute to a collection of dissectible wax models created for the study of anatomy. During the Enlightenment, the physical body was put under the microscope, part of the Cartesian desire to understand and then conquer the physical form so that one may transcend into a state of pure consciousness and reason.9 The female body was associated with weak temperament, sensitivity and even hysteria. Anatomical models of this kind grew in number and fluctuated in size and material; some were made of ivory and were small enough to keep in the pocket.

The Female Nude as Satire

According to Greek myth, the goddess Demeter, weary from searching for her kidnapped daughter Persephone, sought refuge in the house of Keleus, where she refused to eat or drink.¹⁰ Seeing her grief, a servant, Baubo, decided to lift her skirt in a humorous effort to cheer her up. This action of lifting-the-skirt is known as anasyrma11 and has often been used in literature and art as a form of satire: a ‘rude’ gesture that connotes naughtiness, sensuality and seduction. In the 1700s and 1800s, this action was associated with sex work and so-called ‘fallen women’.12 During the mid-1800s, the growing fear of venereal disease produced moral panic and the idealisation of virginity. Contemporary artists depicted sex workers as devilish temptresses who lure weak men into their dens of iniquity. The female nude is thus humorously mocking but also dangerous – a warning to avoid wayward tendencies.

The Remembered Goddess

So, we return to our small figurine. In her contemplation, she realises she still does not remember why she was made. Was she a symbol of divine fertility, an anatomical aide or a devilish temptress? She does not remember. Maybe she does not want to.

Her memory thinks back to her sisters but not the ones who are cold and lifeless. She and the others are symbols of those made of flesh, blood and bone; whose bodies are objectified, stripped and raped despite bleeding red. She feels their pain, her sisters. They are connected like a river, energies flowing into and over each other, caressing the cuts and bruises, healing slowly but surely. She may have forgotten herself, but she remembers them. Her daughters. Her mothers. Her sisters.