Lots of fatphobes making claims they haven’t researched in the notes.
“Paintings from that era only depicted the wealthy!” That is…just false? “Genre” painting, or paintings showing scenes of everyday life and normal people, was becoming a huge Thing in the Baroque period.
Not all paintings are commissioned portraits of wealthy people? ????
“This was an unattainable beauty standard at the time!” Really?
This is an unattainable beauty standard?
These women aren’t fat. They just have wrinkles, cellulite, squishy bellies and sagging skin, and you associate those things with being “fat” and reason that any person who looks like this has access to a huge excess of rich food.
Now on to the main thing… “No one actually looked like that except the wealthy in the 1600’s!”
Fortunately, Baroque artists did in fact capture average people in their paintings. Such as Albrecht Durer, who drew this, entitled “Smiling Peasant Girl”
And these drawings, also depicting everyday women:
None of these women are thin according to our standards. They’re just regular people.
Here’s a “genre” painting by David Teniers the Younger
This is an everyday life scene of people who are not particularly rich. We don’t have these eroticized nudes of peasant women, but it’s clear enough that this woman has similar features to the above women.
Not to mention that artists did in fact depict women in a non-idealized way
This is a painting by David Ryckaert and it’s my favorite thing in the world right now. Look at that smile. The warmth. The poor kitty wrapped up burrito style.
The same guy also painted this (not relevant, just something you need to see)
LOOK. HE’S TEACHING THE DOG TO SHAKE. LOOK. LOOK
I’m pretty fond of Gerard von Honthorst’s work as well
By the way, it’s generally agreed that the women in the paintings in the OP are largely based on the artists’ wives.
Albrecht Durer also drew his wife
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