How have artists employed the human body in Italian art forms?

This is a big question but there are several structures you could use if given an essay question like this so makes it handy for revision:Overall questions to think about: Does the human body lend itself universally across space> across time periods? Bring in context from the present day: figurative painting is very much witnessing a revival after abstraction dominating the 20th century, especially with the rise of photography and video making art more accessible - body as the most able material to use.You could split it up into artistic forms:1) architecture: from Greek antiquity, builders were already replacing temple columns with human figures e.g. the caryatids in the Erectheion, Athens, Employed as a measure to make buildings appropriate/ for humans to live in i.e. by basing the fluted ionic column off the shape of a woman dressed in a draped tunic, we associate with these more easily and feel comfortable under them. See Vitruvius' 10 Books on Architecture.2) sculpture: from the Renaissance came a revival of the human form through a common revival of humanism (explain this term). They excavated greek muscular torsos from under the sea (the Laocoon group), using these to project god-like ideals of the body onto. Also an erotic quality: many bronze statuettes were made to hold in your hand, and warmed to the touch3) drawing: As a means of scientific investigation, peeling back the skin, muscles to reveal anatomy. See Raphael's diagrams of the Vitruvian Man next to detailed notes. A surrogate for scientific truth.Alternatively, by geography: 1) North (Florence) (disegno) - emphasis on preliminary drawing and accuracy: Leonardo's sketchbooks juxtaposing word with drawing - particularly the Vitruvian man and how he fits the proportions of a male naked figure perfectly into a square and circle: attaining perfection, realising the perfection of all things comes through man2) South (Venice) (colore) - emphasis on movement and harmony of the body with nature through colour: Titian's Diana and Actaeon, but also depth: man Is there a big difference between the two or can we argue that the body has been employed universally in the same way? In portraits for example - as likeness of people? You could focus on painting to keep your argument cohesive and clear: is there a difference between Italian approaches to the body and Netherlandish/Flemish for example? List main themes when the body was prominent across the history of art1) A scientific approach - interest in the anatomy and precise depictions used the human body as a vessel through which 2) A humanistic approach - looking back to the past: idolizing sculptures of naked female goddesses e.g. the Venus de Milo3) Gender constructions: Male rational mind vs. female visceral intuitive body (Lynda Nead and Sally O'Reilly's mind and matter debates of the 1980s) Feminist body art in the 1970s: reacting against the depictions of female nude as a constricting ideal.