The Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga is presenting the exhibition Naked. Normative and Rebellious Nudes in Spanish Art (1870-1970) whose goal is to examine how the genre of nude painting developed in Spain from the period known as fin de siècle up until 1970, showing how it became a key factor in the development of modernity.

The nude is perhaps the most persistent subject matter in the history of art. Ever since ancient times, it has been instrumental in idealizing beauty and shaping the classical artistic canon until the late-nineteenth century, when academic principles were completely overturned, making it one of the most significant genres in the renewal of painting throughout the course of the 20th century.

The BBVA Collection is contributing to the exhibition with Messalina in the Arms of a Gladiator, a painting dated from 1886, during Sorolla’s scholarship in Rome. Set in the period of Emperor Claudius (1st century AD, before year 48), it represents his wife Messalina in the arms of a gladiator. Occupying the centre of the composition, she is reclining seductively against the gladiator, offering him a garland of flowers to celebrate his victory in combat. The details of the background reflect the period in question, like the frieze inspired by Pompeian paintings, and the ceramic vessels resting on the architecture that frames the protagonists. Here, Sorolla uses a classical subject matter to show the image of a refined, sensuous but also assertive woman.