This study of metamorphoses depicted in painting, sculpture, photography, and film endeavors to clarify our fascination with transformations of the human form.

Prior to the advent of the nude as an artistic subject in its own right, images of women bathing and dressing required justification, and were therefore essentially illustrations of myths or fables.

Ingres was the leader of the classical school and a prime advocate of the superiority of drawing. He nonetheless transcended academic rules by daring to deform the female body. He acquired the status...