Women bathing

Summary: Beginning with the classical and biblical subjects of Diana, Susannah, and Bathsheba, this program discusses female nudity as it relates to the act of bathing. Depicted as a chaste ritual, a sensual invitation, and a terrifying opportunity for violence, the act of bathing is deconstructed and scrutinized from an artistic point of view. Topics include the inherent dramatic tension of nudity; the thematic provocation of the gaze, as when a character in a painting looks at a bather or when a bather looks out at a viewer; the concealing and revealing of the body with wraps and towels; and the power of actions both mundane and symbolic, such as the combing of hair. Contains nudity.