NickM
Veteran
- Location
- Darwin's birthplace
Why, when they are anatomically correct in every other respect, are the willies of Michelangelo's male figures so undersized?
Renaissance art expert needed
- Thread starter NickM
- Start date
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Steve Austin
The Marmalade Kid
- Location
- Mlehworld
they ain't anatomically correct. they are vastly oversized, and all very masculine, even the women
Fnaar
Smutmaster General
- Location
- Thumberland
I guess the folks back then wouldn't have been happy with David having a "baby's arm" whanging aboot the place! 
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Fnaar said:I guess the folks back then wouldn't have been happy with David having a "baby's arm" whanging aboot the place!
Or a babies arm clutching an orange
Bleughhhh 
SamNichols
New Member
- Location
- Colne, Lancs
There are two elements at work - anatomic correctness and artistic aesthetics. The renaissance was a time when art became far more figurative- people started looking more anatomically like people; there's more concentration on muscle definition and how we fit together. But, to sling a large wang in there would destroy the aesthetics of the piece and would have been considered crass to the contemporary viewer. So, basically, the tastes of the time would see a smaller penis as more genteel than a great big one.
Bigtallfatbloke
New Member
His models were all cyclists
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
As Mr Austin said, they aren't anatomically correct anyhow. The little willy thing goes back to Ancient Greece, where having a little one was seen as a sign of correct male development. Having a big one was associated with being animalistic and dim of brain. It was actually seen as a desirable trait to have a little one...
Fnaar
Smutmaster General
- Location
- Thumberland
...sighs of relief all round (but not from me, of course!
WindyRob
Veteran
- Location
- On the doorstep to the Southdowns
Was it not so that whoever commissioned the art work would feel unashamed to use the communal showers, as in 'well mines bigger than that Greek god over there...' etc
Windy
Windy
- Location
- the post-brexit wasteland
maybe michelangelo made david's willy small so as to reduce risk of it snapping off
Twenty Inch
Guru
- Location
- Behind a desk
wafflycat said:
What she said. Greek men are still trying to get over this particular quirk of the national psyche.
papercorn2000
Senior Member
Its very simple, the Ancient Greeks had no central heating. You know what cold air does for the magnificence of a manhood!
OP
OP
NickM
Veteran
- Location
- Darwin's birthplace
Thank you all for your variously amusing and informative replies.
It strikes me that the likes of Rodin continue to follow the Ancient Greek aesthetic*. Is there any contrasting school of sculpture which aims for realism? Or are all figurative sculptors afraid of being thought coarse/gay/whatever?
* although even the Ancient Greeks were better off than King Kong, another big chap with a tiny part
It strikes me that the likes of Rodin continue to follow the Ancient Greek aesthetic*. Is there any contrasting school of sculpture which aims for realism? Or are all figurative sculptors afraid of being thought coarse/gay/whatever?
* although even the Ancient Greeks were better off than King Kong, another big chap with a tiny part
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
...at least Rodin made his sculpture look as though he was thinking the same question as you asked...
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
...and what about the Cerne Abbas 'giant'. It may have been some joker out of his brains on mead, or the happy hour special but the thought did exist that "hey - I can make it as big as I want - I'm the artist".
Willie or wont he? That is the question...
Willie or wont he? That is the question...
