Anatomizing the Female Nude

Chapter three, “Anatomizing the Female Nude,” focuses on Canova’s 1812 Venus Italica, which was celebrated as the replacement for the Venus de’Medici after the latter was sent to Paris. After the Venus de’Medici returned to Florence, however, Canova’s Venus Italica was moved from the Tribuna in the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti. There, displayed in a “boudoir” surrounded by mirrors, visitors focused on the softness (“morbidezza”) of her flesh. Canova’s viewers mitigated the discourse of seduction and desire generated by soft flesh, transforming their interest into anatomical inquiry. The predilection for “scientific” examination not only reflected the period’s conservative social mores but also reveals how sculpture was implicated in the construction of racial and gender hierarchies.