In culture, a "fig leaf" or "fig-leaf" is a literal or figurative method of obscuring an act or object considered embarrassing or distasteful with something of innocuous appearance. The use of an actual fig leaf for the purpose originates inWestern painting andsculpture, where leaves would be used by the artist themselves or by later censors in order to hide the genitalia of a subject. Use of thefig plant in particular came about as aBiblical reference to theBook of Genesis, in whichAdam and Eve used fig leaves to cover theirnudity after eating theforbidden fruit from thetree of the knowledge of good and evil.[2][3]
A "fig-leaf edition" of a work is known as anexpurgation orBowdlerization.
Ancient Greek art was dominated by the tradition ofheroic nudity and a more general normalization of male nakedness, including thegenitals, although the femalevulval area was generally covered in art for public display. This tradition continued inAncient Roman art until the conversion of theRoman Empire toChristianity, when such practices vanished entirely. During theMiddle Ages, only the unfortunate (most often thedamned) were usually shown naked, although the depictions were then often rather explicit.[4] Adam and Eve were often shown wearing fig or other leaves, following the Biblical description. This was especially a feature ofNorthern Renaissance art.
_-_Eugen_Sandow_(1867-1925)-_1894.jpg)
From about 1530, the growing response of the Catholic church to theReformation ideologies that swept Europe and that led to theCouncil of Trent also led to a number of artworks, especially in churches or public places, being altered to reduce the amount of nudity on display.[5] Often, as in the famous case ofMichelangelo'sThe Last Judgment, drapery or extra branches from any nearby bush was used. This has been dubbed the "fig leaf campaign".[5] For free-standing statues this did not work well, and carved or cast fig leaves were sometimes added, such as with the plaster copy of Michelangelo'sDavid displayed inVictorian eraLondon.[6] In the reign ofQueen Victoria, display of male nudity was contentious and the Queen herself was said to find it shocking. The museum commissioned this fig leaf and kept it in readiness in case of a visit by the Queen or other female dignitaries: the fig leaf was then hung on the figure using a pair of hooks.[7] HistorianDaniel J. Boorstin said that:
The age of the rising middle class in Victorian England was, or course, the age of the fig leaf. "The fig leaves of decent reticence" whichCharles Kingsley described were applied not only to statuary but to literature as well.[8]
The Adam and Eve panels on theGhent Altarpiece, already equipped with fig leaves byJan van Eyck, were simply replaced with 19th-century panels copying the figures but clothed. Many of these alterations have since been reversed, damaging some of the statues.
Eugen Sandow, often considered the first modern-daybodybuilder, was an admirer of the masculine physique, encapsulated in a Greco-Roman musculature he termed the Grecian Ideal. In addition to strongmansideshows, he performed "muscle displays" by posing in the nude—save for a fig leaf that he would don in further emulation of statues he described seeing inItaly as a boy.[9]
The expressionfig leaf has apejorativemetaphorical sense meaning a flimsy or minimal cover for anything or behaviour that might be considered shameful, with the implication that the cover is only a token gesture and the truth is obvious to all who choose to see it.[10]
A metaphorical fig leaf is something visible but innocuous, as against acoverup in which the existence of something may be entirely hidden. In the context of negotiation, an offer might be characterized as a "fig leaf" if that offer is actually a ploy to conceal a sinister plan.[citation needed]
Authority control databases: National |
|---|