Rubens figure
The term Rubens figure (or Rubens woman ) has become a term for women with a voluptuous figure . The name goes back to pictures by the baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens . In his pictures, created in the first half of the 17th century, he represented women with lush curves in particular. The analogical term has established itself in everyday language, especially in connection with discussions about ideals of beauty in which the viewpoints are based on images of art and the Photography should be clarified.
Historical context
In the social context, ideals of beauty always reflect the respective partner's value, which is determined by parameters such as youthfulness, attractiveness , fertility , genetic quality, in relation to social conditions (food supply, times of need). In times of food shortages, more voluptuous body shapes were considered attractive, as they symbolized a certain wealth. From the Renaissance onwards, the ideal image of women was shaped with strong feminine curves ; they were considered seductive and particularly child-bearing in contrast to slender women. In the meantime, the wasp waist became fashionable, but women remained more voluptuous. Only a corset served here as a means to an end.
Later the baroque painter Rubens painted with strong feminine curves. In the Rococo , figures in paintings became even more vivid, which quickly spread in high society. Bulky people were recognized as intelligent and wealthy. Sugar and fat served to maintain the ideal figure at that time. Diets did not aim to reduce weight, but rather to gain or maintain weight. Even before the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, a slim figure was once again considered contemporary.
Extended use of terms
While the term Rubens figure can only be found in art literature before and shortly after the beginning of the 20th century, it was adopted in entertainment magazines or in novels, for example by Ferdinand von Hornstein, in the 1920s and 1930s, where Rubens figure was used as a rhetorical stylistic device (in in this case, Synekdoche for a strongly built woman) is used.
Currently, the term is used descriptively, ironically or self-deprecatingly , even in the variant Rubensweib (for example “splendid Rubensweib”), which has been positively documented .
The well-known stand-up comedian Cindy from Marzahn , “who flirts with her Rubens figure full of self-irony and mockery”, is described in the feminist magazine Emma as “Cindy from Marzahn: Rubens figure and dressed all in pink, pink lids, blonde ringlets ".
Individual evidence
- ^ Elisabeth Leinfellner: The euphemism in political language. Duncker & Humblot, 1971, p. 112.
- ↑ Andreas Hergovich: Psychology of beauty: physical attractiveness from a scientific perspective . Facultas Univ.-Verlag Vienna, 2002, ISBN 3-85114-705-7 .
- ↑ Anja Dostert: The crazy story of the diet: slimming mania and beauty cult . o. S.
- ^ Albert Dresdner: The way of art . E. Diederichs, 1904.
- ^ Emil Heilbut, Caesar Flaischlen, Karl Scheffler: Art and artists: Illustrated monthly for fine arts and art history . Bruno Cassirer, 1917.
- ^ Illustrated newspaper . JJ Weber, 1921 .: “He made the woman who wears it into a lush Rubens figure that makes one wonder. how she gets into this dress. "
- ↑ Ferdinand von Hornstein: The Sphinx and the Sadist . Novel. Müller & I. Kiepenheuer, 1930, p. 125 .
- ↑ Kim Schneyder: Help, I put a spell on the prince! Novel. Piper ebooks, 2014, ISBN 978-3-492-98072-2 .
- ↑ Christa Kanand: Comedy star in Ulm - 1500 fans see Cindy from Marzahn in the Donauhalle ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: Südwest Presse. May 15, 2009.
- ↑ Emma: the magazine by women for people . Emma-Verlag, March 2008.