Tiffany Jenkins talks to Jill Burke, a prize-winning researcher in Italian Renaissance art history, senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and associate editor of Renaissance Studies, about the Renaissance Nude. 

They discuss the hidden influences and impact of the Renaissance nude upon the social and political reality of Italy – why did representations of the nude proliferate in this period? What kind of society produced them? What did they mean? What was the difference between the male and female nude – and who was doing the looking?

► LINKS AND FURTHER INFORMATION   

 ‘The Italian Renaissance Nude’, by Jill Burke, which, incredibly, is the first scholarly monograph to focus on the inception of the Italian Renaissance Nude is available from Yale University Press. 

Read more by Jill Burke on her blog. 

Find out more about the RA’s exhibition the Renaissance Nude.  

► MUSIC

Signature tune: Nick Vander - Galaxy I - Black kopal - 20190123 1206

The rest: 

Artist: Liam Thomas Title: No Time Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVwZmQkJ6Sw

Music provided by HearWeGo - (Royalty free)

 ► PICTURES/GET IN TOUCH

The image used for the episode is Saint Sebastian by Agnolo Bronzino 1533 & is on loan to the RA from the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.  

Further images discussed in this episode are available on Instagram: @BehindtheMuseum 

Twitter: @BehindtheMuseum

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Behind the Scenes at the Museum is written and presented by Tiffany Jenkins and produced by Jac Phillimore.