so today in art history we discussed titian and his painting "venus of urbino". you can see if here. it's really beautiful, and also very suggestive. obviously she's not a classical venus; it's a prostitute who posed for one of titian's many nudes that he tried to make respectable by passing off as goddesses. the duke of urbino, who commissioned this one, kept it under the cover of a heavy curtain whenever women were present; only when it was only men in the company did he allow it to be shown. jesus said that some art critics believe it amounts to renaissance porn lol. he also noted that what she's doing with her left hand *cough cough* is open to interpretation. i had actually thought that before he said it, but i figured titian wouldn't have painted a woman masturbating, it would have been a bit unorthodox, but apparently that is one interpretation of it! of course she could also be modestly covering herself, but look at her face--does she look like she's ashamed? this painting is so awesome :-)