What if an aristocratic woman from the 16th century saw this one day while on a walk, would she find him unattractive? I know that nobility in that time found larger body types attractive because it was a sign that that person could afford food and leisure. What do you all think?
Michelangelo's David was considered one example of youthful beauty. This was made in 1501, just at the start of the 16th century.
Through to the 17th century, the enlargement and over development of muscles didn't really catch on either - here is a plate from Capo Ferro, a fencing treatise where all the swordsmen are all naked.
French revolutionary art was still caught in the grasps of neo-classicalism eg, throw backs to Classical Greek and Roman styles. See J Louis-David's The Death of Marat
Whilst musculature of that sort was depicted in art, for example - Laocoon & his Sons these weren't manifestations of beauty by any means.
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