Sociology: Difference between Art and Pornography

I recently visited the Prado, the world's largest art gallery, in Madrid, Spain. Among the thousands of paintings and sculptures there, a good portion of them with women appeared to show them in naked poses, sometimes quite revealingly with full breasts showing. Yet, they are admired as works of art and not taken down as pornography. Most of these revealing ones were depictions of Greek and Roman goddesses, most notably Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology). However, even the Christian ones had a fair portion of naked women. For instance, there was one where a saint was tempted by the lovely bodies of demons disguised as fair women.

In A Pilgrim’s Regress, C.S. Lewis wrote about a man who ordered milk and eggs from a waiter in a restaurant. After tasting the milk he commented to the waiter that it was delicious. The waiter replied, “Milk is only the secretion of a cow, just like urine and feces.” After eating the eggs he commented on the tastiness of the eggs. Again the waiter responded that eggs are only a by-product of a chicken. After thinking about the waiter’s comment for a moment the man responded, “You lie. You don’t know the difference between what nature has meant for nourishment, and what it meant for garbage.”

The only difference between art and pornography is not in its actual form but in its intention. Pornography uses naked figures to stimulate the baser instincts of individuals while art uses naked figures to stimulate the admiration and aspiration. Sometimes the line may not be clear. For instance, in modern days, women look at modeling magazines of women almost as art, i.e. figures that they admire and wish to look like. However,to some men, the same pictures create an different feelings of lust. The maker may have the intention but the viewer is the one who ultimately decides whether a piece of work is pornography or art for themselves.

Some of the following are works from the Prado. Are they art or pornography?