To Show or Not to Show? Marcantonio Raimondi and the Representation of Female Pubic Hair

In the visual arts of Early Modern period, female pubic hair was mostly considered indecorous, troublesome, or even indecent because it highlighted one’s most intimate parts. In treatises and medical literature of that period, it was perceived, as body hair in general, as a vehicle for the expulsion of the body’s own excretions. In addition to these rather unbecoming connotations, this article will address and propose more positive ideas surrounding a particular set of depictions of pubic hair that referenced a specific artistic model. I will show that Marcantonio Raimondi’s application of pubic hair to some of his female nudes, the Venus Wringing her Hair, Young Man Protected by Fortune, and Mars, Venus, and Cupid, all created between 1506 and 1508, becomes a highly significant detail that should be seen in connection with his imitation and emulation of Albrecht Dürer. Marcantonio’s different approaches to pubic hair indicate also its potential as a field of artistic experimentation.