Venuses on Instagram. Survival of the Figura Serpentinata in the Age of Social Media

Abstract

This essay contextualizes the phenomenon of selfies depicting women’s bodies as spirally twisted figures. We do so through several interconnected excursions into Renaissance Neoplatonism, Michelangelo’s work, William Hogarth’s theory of beauty, 19th century hygienic discourse, and Baudrillard’s analysis of the inversion of soul-body dualism, in order to finally expose these figures as unique heirs of the Renaissance figura serpentinata.

Keywords

• Venus
• photography
• capitalism
• line
• figura serpentinata
• contour