The Purpose Behind Nude Oil Paintings

Historically, western nude oil paintings depicted the naked male body long before the naked female body. It is interesting to look at why this might have been so.
Some of the earlier paintings of naked bodies aimed to display the physical strength and prowess of males. This was especially true in Greek and Roman art which captured and emphasized the strong muscular features of the male form.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Greek and Roman artists continued to give attention to naked males rather than females. In fact, there seemed to be an unspoken taboo against trying to depict the naked female form. There appeared to be a sense of shame and sinfulness associated with naked females which did not seem to apply to naked males.
Some art historians suggest that, in the west, this had to do with religious beliefs originating in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. In this story, Eve was considered a temptress who had persuaded Adam into the sin of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
In modern art, nudity has been more liberally depicted with artists using it in a variety of settings and styles. The naked human form has been painted in impressionist compositions, as fantasy art, abstract art and in cartoons.