MUSCLE is a recent video work by Karimah Ashadu about bodybuilders from the slums of Lagos. A great occasion to take a closer look at other bare-chested, muscular men in the collection.
In European art history, a naked man is often a dead man.
Here, the body of Jesus is laid in the tomb.
A man's back and shoulder, seductively lit.
This bare back and shoulders are the work of Dirck van Baburen, a 17th-century painter from Utrecht. Caravaggio inspired him with his new realism: real people, dirty feet.
Caravaggio’s extreme contrast between light and dark also inspired Baburen, as you can see in the bare shoulder, the hands and the face.
Another example of quintessential male nudity? Take this masterpiece by the Utrecht painter Wtewael, featuring dozens of figures with toned bodies.
Some whisper that what’s happening here is rather naughty…
The marriage of Cupid, the god of love, and Psyche is celebrated here, and all the gods are invited.
The Centraal Museum's collection of old masters is rooted in the history of Utrecht and in biblical stories. As a result, the bodies you see within our museum walls are predominantly white. But some artists challenge this, such as Rotimi Fani-Kayodi, who explores his Black identity in a white art world.
A striking 17th-century painting in the collection: a Black man dressed in royal attire as the central figure. How often do you see that?
Karimah Ashadu is a British-Nigerian artist who has attracted considerable international attention. With the acquisition of her video MUSCLE, our collection has gained a major work exploring the visibility and representation of the Black male body.
