Renaissance art expert needed

[NickM]

Why, when they are anatomically correct in every other respect, are the willies of Michelangelo's male figures so undersized?

 

[Steve Austin]

they ain't anatomically correct. they are vastly oversized, and all very masculine, even the women

 

[Fnaar]

I guess the folks back then wouldn't have been happy with David having a "baby's arm" whanging aboot the place!

 

[gbb]

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]

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]

His models were all cyclists

 

[wafflycat]

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]

...sighs of relief all round (but not from me, of course!

 

[WindyRob]

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

 

[alecstilleyedye]

maybe michelangelo made david's willy small so as to reduce risk of it snapping off

 

[Twenty Inch]

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...

What she said. Greek men are still trying to get over this particular quirk of the national psyche.

 

[papercorn2000]

Its very simple, the Ancient Greeks had no central heating. You know what cold air does for the magnificence of a manhood!

 

[NickM]

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

 

[Aperitif]

...at least Rodin made his sculpture look as though he was thinking the same question as you asked...

 

[Aperitif]

...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...