The nude figure is a universal visual theme, deeply rooted in the history of art, and it is seemingly ubiquitous in the art of the ancient civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean. The Antikenmuseum, in Basel, Switzerland, recently opened a new exhibition - Naked! The Art of Nudity - which carefully examines every facet of nude art in the ancient world, probing its meaning and legacy in Western conceptions of beauty and morality. In this exclusive interview for Ancient History Encyclopedia, James Blake Wiener speaks to Dr. Tomas Lochman, curator of the exhibition at the Antikenmuseum, about how ancient peoples in the Mediterranean and Near East viewed nudity.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1295/interview-nudity-in-the-ancient-world/.