Are Nude Models Acceptable in Art?

Some of the world’s most famous works of art involve nudity. The statue of David in the Vatican museum is nude. The paintings of the Sistine Chapel includes nude figures. So clearly nudity is not inherently immoral in art.

A live human model that happens to be nude for the purposes of improving artistic skill would not considered inherently immoral because the purpose is not sinful. The sin of lust can occur whether someone is nude or fully dressed. Therefore the key to morality of any one particular work of art is intent.

We cannot simply dismiss nudity in art as no big deal. Lust is always with us as a species due to original sin and we need to guard against reducing another human being to an object of desire. But we also need to be open to the fact that there can be legitimate artistic reasons for including nudity.

The fact that this problem is raised does not mean that the human body, in its nakedness, cannot become a subject of works of art—but only that this problem is not purely aesthetic, nor morally indifferent. (Pope Saint John Paul II, Reflections on the Ethos of the Human Body in Works of Artistic Culture)

Intention and purpose must always be carefully examined.