Imageries of women have always co-existed with those of males – from prehistoric figurative sculptures such as the Venus of Willendorf carved by an unknown artist some 32,000 years ago to modern idealizations of women in art, fashion, film, and photography. Follow this photo gallery as we celebrate the allure of feminine beauty enshrined in the arts through the ages.

The Venus of Willendorf (Austria)

This tiny limestone figure of a woman was found in Austria and dates to around 32,000 years ago. At first sight, she appears to be just a clumsy caricature of the female form. But closer inspection reveals remarkable technical sophistication on the part of the unknown artist. The curls that wrap around her head are not only taut, but precisely rendered. Her immense breasts and swelling limbs are almost certainly designed to evoke strong sexuality in accord with her function as a fertility symbol.

The Bust of Nefertiti (Egypt)

With her finely chiselled features, large well-shaped eyes, and reddish-gold skin, the limestone bust of Nefertiti (circa 1340 BCE) is the classic the paradigm of beauty. Dug out of the desert south of Cairo in 1912 and put on display in 1924, the colorful bust was certainly in tune with the Art Deco taste of the 1920s. The bust depicts a Nefertiti who seems aloof but attractive to every race and gender and for all time.

An Etruscan Aphrodite (Italy)

This figure of a goddess is the finest example of Etruscan votive figurines. It was unearthed around the Sanctuary of Diana at Lake Nami, near Rome. The goddess’s regular facial features contrast with her slim, plank-like body that tapers elegantly to her feet. Her arms are placed firmly by the sides of her body. The attenuated style of such figures is thought to have influenced the art of the famed Swiss sculptor, Alberto Giacometti (1901 – 1966).

The Aphrodite of Knidos (Greece)

Around 330 BCE, a Greek artist by the name of Praxiteles carved a statue out of marble depicting the goddess of love, Aphrodite. Now known as the Aphrodite of Knidos, after the Greek town on the west coast of modern Turkey, the figure was a milestone in the history of art since it was the first time the female form was represented as a full-sized naked figure. Praxiteles’ original statue has long been lost, but hundreds of copies were made across the ancient world in full size and miniatures and many of these have survived. Today, it is difficult to imagine the dangers faced by a sculptor like Praxiteles since his was a world not used to the public display of female flesh. Whatever was Praxiteles’ motivation for this carving, he was upsetting conventional assumptions about art and gender in much the same way as Marcel Duchamp did so a thousand years later.

A Statute of Venus (Roman Italy)

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

Born in Florence in the mid-1440s, Sandro Botticelli apprenticed as a goldsmith and then with master painter Filippo Lippi. By his forties, he was himself a master and contributed to the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. The Birth of Venus is his best-known work and one of the most iconic paintings of the Renaissance period. This impressive work centers on the figure of the naked goddess Venus emerging from a shell on the seashore, the gentle winds blowing and caressing her hair with a shower of roses. The work is both a tribute to classical literature (specifically, Ovid’s Metamorphoses) as well as a symbol of rebirth of civilization, a hope that the end of the Middle Age turmoil will usher in a new age of peace and prosperity.

Portrait of Mary of Burgundy (Netherlandish or South German School)

This 15^th century oil painting wonderfully captures the porcelain beauty of one of the most romantic and tragic female figures of the Renaissance. Mary of Burgundy was the sole heiress to the estate of the Duchy of Burgundy, making her the wealthiest and most eligible woman in Europe at the time. Against the odds in an age of dynastic marriage politics, she married the young Archduke (later, Emperor) Maximilian of Austria who described her as ‘the most beautiful woman’ he had ever seen. Her happiness was short-lived, however. Mary died less than five years later in a hunting accident.

The Toilet of Venus (Diego Velázquez, Spain)

This must be the most eloquent back of a woman in the history of art. Some scholars believe that this was a disguised portrait of Velazquez’s mistress, which may be why ‘Venus’s’ image in the mirror held up by Cupid is blurred and lacking in classical beauty.

Madame X (John Singer Sargent, American)

This famous portrait of Madame X is actually that of Virginie Gautreau (1859 – 1915), known for her artful appearance in the Parisian social circle. The painting was exhibited in the Salon of 1884 where it caused a sensation because one of the straps on her dress was depicted off shoulder, something considered sexually provocative at that time. Sargent repainted the shoulder strap and kept the work for over thirty years before eventually selling it to the Metropolitan.

Buste de femme de profil. Femme écrivant (Pablo Picasso, France)

Painted in 1932 – Picasso’s “year of wonders” – this monumental, yet sensitive painting of Marie-Thérèse absorbed in the act of writing evokes a private moment from the artist’s clandestine relationship with his most beloved muse. Picasso almost never painted his muses from life, his depictions of them mostly recalled from memory. With Marie-Therese in particular, Picasso’s inspiration reached fever pitch in the long periods they were forced to spend apart. Here, she is depicted in a quietly contemplative mood, perhaps picturing her lover as she writes.

Nu Couché (Sur le Côté Gauche) by Amedeo Modigliani (Italy)

Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) has been described as the most important of the artist’s sequence of early 20th-century nudes. It is an iconic work that keeps setting new records at auctions (Modigliani is one of only three artists to break the US$150 million price barrier). Painted over a century ago, the painting of a nude reclining on a couch is reinvented the nude for the modern era.

Supermodel Helena Christensen (Denmark)

Michel Comte’s iconic photograph is simple in its concept yet startling in its execution. It is intimate but discreet, the shadows of the supermodel’s back proving that power and femininity can be one and the same.

Audrey Hepburn (British Actress)

Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993) is one of the most photographed actresses in Hollywood’s history. It’s easy to see why – only Hepburn could look this stunning while getting ready.

Marilyn Monroe (American Actress)

This dreamy photo of the quintessential sex-symbol was taken in 1961 by Canadian photographer, Douglas Kirkland in a rented Hollywood studio. Monroe was then at the peak of her stardom, having had a string of Hollywood blockbusters to her name, including Some Like It Hot, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop, The Seven Year Itch and The Misfits.

Grace Kelly (American Actress)

Born in 1929, actress Grace Kelly was the epitome of the icy beauty queen and Hollywood royalty. In her total acting career, Kelly would appear in eleven films and star in over forty television broadcasts—a relatively small number in light of her immense and enduring popularity. At the height of her fame, she took a fateful trip to France in 1955. There, she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Their fairy-tale romance culminated in a highly publicized wedding the following year. Kelly was then only 26 years old. She died in 1970 at the age of 52 in a car accident, becoming one of the enduring mythical figures of the gilded age of film. In this 1956, photograph, Kelly waits backstage with Audrey Hepburn to present an award at the 28th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.

Elizabeth Taylor (British-American Actress)

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 – 2011) shot to fame after her performance in National Velvet when she was just 12. She appeared in countless movies and is considered the grande dame of the movie business and held as one of the most beautiful Western actresses of all time.

We end with art once more. A crisp London morning is the inspiration for this breezy screen-print by the American artist, Alan Katz (b. 1927), whose works are characterized by serene and thoughtful compositions such as this.