General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Objectification will always be around, advertising depends on it [View all]rrneck
(17,671 posts)Not exactly the gold standard of historical research. It doesn't really matter. They're paintings. They meant something then, and they will mean something different now. To my mind the best test of the quality of a work is the test of time. The Fragonard is just an eighteenth century SI cover. He will fade, if he hasn't already. I could have posted something from that era more racy, but it would likely have gotten hidden. Rembrandt did nudes like everybody else, and I guarantee the men looking at them thought the same thing men looking at nude women now think.
I stood in the Medici Chapel but I didn't find any gold in my pockets when I left. It's glowering opulence felt like sixteenth century corporate architecture. Funny how that works out. How many progressives have Fragonard on their wall, and an the opulent marble displays of wealth in corporate lobbies are scandalous. One loses it's power and gets respectable, the other becomes scandalous because of its destructive power.