In the arts Modesty

cupidon (french cupid), william-adolphe bouguereau, 1875; tip of right wing covers boy s genitals.

standards of modesty in art have varied @ different times , in different places. nudity , various types of behaviour depicted, sometime not. in many cases society did not allow nudity or immodest dress, nudity accepted in art. nudity in art not acceptable, full nudity not displayed; otherwise nude subjects had private parts hidden apparently accidental draped fabric, flowers, other people, fig leaf, etc. in films, brief nudity accepted. nude artworks had fig leaves added when standards became less permissive.

in given society, criteria varied according circumstances; example artworks on public display more restrained private display adults.

nudity in art suggested without actual depiction by:

something seemingly chance covering private parts
in film:

showing supposedly nude person waist or shoulders up
maneuvering (turning, having objects in front) , editing in such way no genitals seen
showing nudity distance, or only, although other characters nearby and/or see frontal nudity
showing nudity briefly

in cartoons, in cases genital area not covered clothing, genitals not drawn, case in family guy , other animated sitcoms. in film barnyard, showing anthropomorphized cattle of both sexes walking on 2 legs, instead of either showing genitals of male cattle or not showing them, concept of male cow used, udder. in underdog partly animated anthropomorphized dog shown penis when real dog filmed, , without penis in animated parts.

paintings changed because of changed modesty standards, , later changed back. during counter-reformation there fig-leaf campaign aiming cover representations of human genitals in paintings , sculptures started michelangelo s works. works covered in way include marble statue of cristo della minerva (church of santa maria sopra minerva, rome) covered added drapery, remains today, , statue of naked child jesus in madonna of bruges (the church of our lady in bruges, belgium) remained covered several decades. also, plaster copy of david in cast courts (victoria , albert museum) in london, has fig leaf in box @ of statue. there placed on statue s genitals not upset visiting female royalty. statue of achilles @ hyde park corner has incongruous figleaf permanently attached, after stolen several times.

many fairytales , other related media feature women or ethnic origin western europe , northern europe demure due typically soft features. famous examples include snow white, cinderella, sleeping beauty, beauty , beast, little red riding hood, wendy darling peter pan, maid marian robin hood, christine daaé phantom of opera, ophelia hamlet, , dorothy gale wonderful wizard of oz.