An art historian explains why so many ancient and classical statues show the human body naked. In ancient Greece, male nudity signalled beauty, athletic excellence and arete, the idea of excellence, and sculptures such as kouroi served as offerings and grave markers. The Spear Bearer by Polykleitos set an ideal of proportion that later inspired Roman copies, including a portrait of Augustus. Female nudity became common in Greek sculpture only in the fourth century BCE, with the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles a landmark. Renaissance and neoclassical artists revived heroic nudity, while modern sculptors such as Thomas J. Price often choose clothed figures.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.