Standing Female Nude with Raised Arm c. 1660 - 1662

Aert de Gelder made this drawing of a standing female nude with raised arm, with pen in brown ink, brush in brown wash, and graphite. De Gelder was one of the last students of Rembrandt, and he continued to paint in Rembrandt’s style well into the 18th century, long after other Dutch artists had moved on. This puts de Gelder outside the mainstream of the art institutions of his time. How then should we understand his nudes? We might compare them with similar works from the time, to study the codes through which the body becomes an object of aesthetic contemplation, and to see whether these were changing. The records of academies, schools and workshops can tell us what was considered proper and improper when depicting the body. By comparing de Gelder’s images with others we can come to understand how they speak to the artistic and social conventions of his time.