Editing Bathing (section)

==Art motif==
Bathing scenes were already in the Middle Ages a popular subject of painters. Most of the subjects were women shown nude, but the interest was probably less to the bathing itself rather than to provide the context for representing the [[Nude (art)|nude]] figure. From the Middle Ages, illustrated books of the time contained such bathing scenes. Biblical and mythological themes which featured bathing were depicted by numerous painters. Especially popular themes included [[Bathsheba at Her Bath|Bathsheba in the bath]], in which she is observed by King David, and [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] in the sight of lecherous old men.

In the High Middle Ages, public baths were a popular subject of painting, with rather clear depictions of sexual advances, which probably were not based on actual observations. During the [[Renaissance]] and [[Baroque]] periods, the gods and nymphs of [[Greek mythology]] were depicted bathing in allegorical paintings by artists such as [[Titian]] and [[François Boucher]], both of whom painted the goddess [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] bathing. Artists continued to paint Biblical characters bathing, and also sometimes depicted contemporary women bathing in the river, an example being [[Rembrandt]]'s ''Woman Bathing''.

In the 19th century, the use of the bathing scene reached its high point in [[classicism]], [[Realism (arts)|realism]] and [[impressionism]]. Oriental themes and harem and [[turkish bath]]s scenes became popular. These scenes were based on the artists' imagination, because access by men to Islamic women was not generally permitted.<ref>Alev Lytle Croutier: ''Wasser. Elixier des Lebens.'' Heyne, München 1992, S. 187 ff. {{ISBN|3-453-05924-7}}</ref> In the second half of the century, artists increasingly eschewed the pretexts of mythology and exoticism, and painted contemporary western women bathing. [[Edgar Degas]], for example, painted over 100 paintings with a bathing theme. The subject of Bathers remained popular in [[avant-garde]] circles at the outset of the 20th century.

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
  File:Albrecht Durer, "Woman's Bath".jpg|[[Albrecht Dürer]], ''Women bathing'', 1496
  File:Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Das Goldene Zeitalter (Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo).jpg|[[Lucas Cranach the Younger|Lucas Cranach]], ''The Golden Age'', 1530 
  File:Titian - Diana and Actaeon - 1556-1559.jpg|[[Titian]], ''Actaeon Surprises Diana in Her Bath'', 1559
  File:Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijn - Diana mit Aktäon und Kallisto - c.1634-1635.jpg|[[Rembrandt|Rembrandt van Rijn]], ''[[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] with [[Actaeon]] and [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]]'', 1634/1635
  File:Heimbach-Badende Mädchen-WUS03225.jpg|[[Wolfgang Heimbach]], ''People Bathing'', 1640
  File:Boucher Diane sortant du bain Louvre 2712.jpg|[[François Boucher]], ''Diana Leaving Her Bath'', 1742
  File:Torii Kiyomitsu--Bathing.jpg|[[Torii Kiyomitsu]], ''Bathing Woman'', 1750
  File:Le Bain Turc, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|[[Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres]], ''[[The Turkish Bath]]'', 1862
  File:Gérome_Bad.jpg|[[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], ''The Bath'', ca. 1880
  File:Degas_Nach dem Bade.jpg|[[Edgar Degas]], ''After the Bath'', ca. 1890
  File:Paul Gauguin - Fatata te Miti (By the Sea) - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''By the Sea'', 1892
  File:Detail from Paul Cézanne, French - The Large Bathers - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Cézanne]], ''The Large Bathers'' (detail)
  File:The Baths at Caracalla.jpg|[[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]], ''The Baths at [[Baths of Caracalla|Caracalla]]'', 1899
  File:Liebermann Badende Jungen 1900.jpeg|[[Max Liebermann]], ''Bathing Boys'', 1900
  File:Triste herencia, por Joaquín Sorolla.jpg|[[Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida]], ''Sad Inheritance'', 1900. Crippled children bathing at the sea in Valencia
  File:Girls from Dalarna Having a Bath (Anders Zorn) - Nationalmuseum - 18642.tif|[[Anders Zorn]], ''Girls from Dalarna Having a Bath'', 1906
  File:Jean Metzinger, 1905-06, Baigneuse, Deux nus dans un jardin exotique (Two Nudes in an Exotic Landscape), oil on canvas, 116 x 88.8 cm.jpg|[[Jean Metzinger]], ''[[Two Nudes in an Exotic Landscape|Baigneuse, Deux nus dans un jardin exotique (Two Nudes in an Exotic Landscape)]]'', 1905–06
  File:Albert Gleizes, 1912, Les Baigneuses, oil on canvas, 105 x 171 cm, Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.jpg|[[Albert Gleizes]], ''[[Les Baigneuses (Gleizes)|Les Baigneuses (The Bathers)]]'', 1912, [[Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris]]
  File:1913. Баня.jpg|[[Zinaida Serebriakova]], ''[[Banya (sauna)|Banya]]'', 1913
  File:Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Das Soldatenbad, 1915, (DEP950), private collection.jpg|[[Ernst Ludwig Kirchner]], ''The Soldier Bath'', 1915
  File:Bagnanti.JPG|[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], ''The bathing women'', 1919
  File:Kustodiev_russian_venus.jpg|[[Boris Kustodiev]], ''Russian Venus'', 1926
 File:Pablo Picasso, 1922, Quatre baigneuses (Four Bathers), egg tempera on vellum, mounted on wood panel, 10.16 x 15.24 cm (4 x 6 in), Collection Paul Allen.jpg|[[Pablo Picasso]], ''Quatre baigneuses (Four Bathers)'', 1922, Collection [[Paul Allen]]
 File:DEU Bad Liebenzell COA.svg|In the German spa town [[Bad Liebenzell]] the bather is part of the municipal [[Coat of arms]]
</gallery>