This text discusses the depiction of navels in art, referencing that Adam was painted with one by famous artists like Raphael and Michelangelo. It highlights the aesthetic value of a well-proportioned belly, focusing on maintaining natural figures in art. The text advises artists not to apply the beauty of a virgin’s belly to that of a mother’s, emphasizing consideration of natural aesthetics and proportion.
Belly Navel
Having been brought forth, no longer had any need for a navel than birds in the beginning of Creation needed eggs. Some scholars and renowned painters like Raphael of Urbino and Michelangelo have criticized depicting Adam with a navel in their paintings. The reason we provide regarding the breasts and nipples, both given to men and women, is that the human race might resemble each other in the extreme, which we can reasonably accept regarding the question.
It seems to us that the navel greatly enhances the beauty of the belly, especially when it does not protrude too much or is deeply recessed. The art of painting is well suited when special attention is given to the belly's proportion in images of virtuous women, as was understood by the ancients. Jan de Bologna showed in the virgin sculpture of his "Rape of the Sabine Women" how much beauty can be brought to a naked female figure by the well-proportioned and noble contour of the belly. To follow what is natural in the art of painting, one should not add the beauty of a virgin's belly to that of a mother who has given birth. The painter must be wise to cover or pass over what is unattractive to the eye, knowing that things in life that have lost their beauty should not excessively dictate the art of drawing, for they follow their effects alone.