It was hardly surprising then that nudity came into fashion in painting and sculpture. ... Neo-Platonists held the notion that by the contemplation of beauty, the soul could progress from the love of the material to the love of the abstract and then finally to the love of the spiritual, namely God. ... Donatello's first freestanding nude sculpture, David (1428-1432), is particularly sexually suggestive of the sculptor's homosexuality. A long feather, possibly a phallic symbol, creeps from the base of the sculpture, up the inside of David's shapely thigh. ... Nudity in paint...

• Word Count: 1032
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate