The Renaissance Nude, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Think of celebrated nudes and Titian's Venus of Urbino, Manet's Olympia, or, even Freud's portraits of Big Sue might spring to mind. It's because nudes, in all their varying shapes and forms, have infilitrated the western canon for centuries; they are the subject of some of the most famous masterpieces ever made.

Now the Royal Academy London traces the influential impact of the Renaissance nude on visual culture across the continent between 1400 –1550, and the ways in which it inspired later works. Bringing together more than 90 pieces from prestigious private and public collections in a thematically curated display, The Renaissance Nude explores the way 'humanist culture, new artistic attitudes and spiritual beliefs shaped the appearance, meaning and reception of the nude'.

The exhibition presents a diverse range of multi-disciplinary works by renowned Renaissance artists, including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. Highlights of the exhibition will include Italian masterpieces such as Titian’s Venus Rising from the Sea (‘Venus Anadyomene’), c. 1520, on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland, and Agnolo Bronzino’s Saint Sebastian, c. 1533, on loan from Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

By exploring the pivotal role of the unclothed body in the western canon, The Renaissance Nude seeks to highlight its enduring visual appeal.