And depictions of the naked Christ.
There are many Christians who have always reacted against nudity in religious art. Throughout the ages, especially since Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, people have complained of the nudity of the figures. In the last several years, secular artists have portrayed Jesus naked upon the cross, and contemporary Christians have protested, as if every representation was an out of hand blasphemy. To be sure, some of the modern representations of the naked Christ have had homo-erotic overtones, but not necessarily all of them.
The Theophany.
From the earliest days of Christian iconography, Jesus has been portrayed naked - in situations appropriate to the narrative of course. The nakedness of Christ was shown mainly because it became important to demonstrate, that although he was fully God, he was at the same time fully human. It was all about the Incarnation. Therefore, Jesus is frequently shown naked in the infancy narratives, his baptism by John, and in his passion, death, and resurrection.
I believe it may be said, that in his extreme poverty and humilty, Christ allowed himself to shown naked.
Having said that, there is a good argument to be had for artists to be concerned for modesty when depicting Christ in art. I say this because of how displeased God was with the son of Noah when he exposed his father’s nakedness. “Ham saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside the tent about it.” - Genesis 9: 18-25 Having been told this, the other two brothers approached their father, walking backwards with a cloth to hide his nakedness. After Noah awoke, he knew what had happened and cursed his son.
