FHM Magazine has just announced its annual list of the 100 Sexiest Women In The World: a collection of models, actresses and pop stars who regularly grace the disposable pages of magazines.
But what about the great beauties immortalized forever in art?
To help out the more cultured connoisseurs of female beauty among you, we’ve compiled an alternative to FHM’s yearly ogle-fest that has a (slightly) loftier aim – to bring you the 100 Sexiest Women In Art, from the buxom beauties of the Renaissance to pop art poseurs and back again (with help from our friends ArtFinder).
Will the Mona Lisa be our Tulisa? Are Klimt's muses sexier than Cheryl? And what about Degas’ endless bathing beauties – will they beat Keeley Hazell?!
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Spanning the works of art history from countries around the world, we bring you our top 100 sexy paintings, many of which did that old thing – nudity – long before FHM was a twinkle in an amorous teenager’s eye.
Of course, this being art, we don't quite mean 'sexiness' in the same way. Sometimes it is just a certain style of painting or a piece of imagery that lends these pieces their sensuality.
From the top ten onward, we’ll be explaining exactly why we picked the paintings that we did. Some of the results might surprise you.
As ever, we want to hear what you think. Did we get it right? Are there any glaring absences? And should we do a 100 Sexiest Men In Paint next?
100 Sexiest Women In Art
100 - Woman with Shell Femme au Coquillage, William-Adolphe Bouguereau(01 of100)
99 - Girl with Peacock, George Frederick Watts(02 of100)
98 - Portrait of a Woman Revealing her Breasts, Tintoretto (C16)(03 of100)
97 - Woman Getting Into A Bathrub, Edgar Degas (1890)(04 of100)
96 - Venus and Cupid with a Mirror, Titian (1559)(05 of100)
95 - Et l'or de leur corps, Paul Gauguin, (1901)(06 of100)
94 - Berthe Morisot, Edouard Manet (1872)(07 of100)
93 - The Geisha, Jean Faust(08 of100)
92 - The Favourite Poet (1888)(09 of100)
91 - Miranda, Sir Frank Dicksee (1878)(10 of100)
90 - In The Car, Roy Lichtenstein(11 of100)
89 - Woman With A Hat, Henri Matisse(12 of100)
88 - Reclining Nude, Francois Boucher (C18)(13 of100)
87 - Vanity, Hans Memling (C15)(14 of100)
86 - The Swing, Jean-Honore Fragonard (1767)(15 of100)
85 - Marilyn Monroe, Scott J. Davis(16 of100)
84 - Portrait of a Young Woman, Jan Vermeer (C17)(17 of100)
83 - Design for a poster, lphonse Marie Mucha (1897)(18 of100)
82 - Mae Rose-Cottage daydreams her erotic fantasies, Tony Todd (2005)(19 of100)
81 - Woman at her Toilet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1896)(20 of100)
80 - Poster of Job Cigarette Papers by Alphonse Marie Mucha (late C19 - early C20)(21 of100)
79 - Seated Woman with Bent Knee, Egon Schiele (1917) (22 of100)
78 - Reclining Nude in Green Stockings, Egon Schiele (1914)(23 of100)
77 - The Odalisque, François Boucher (1749)(24 of100)
76 - Evening Plum Blossom and a Geisha by Keisai Eisen (C19)(25 of100)
75 - Safie, one of the three ladies of Baghdad, William Clark Wontner(26 of100)
74 - An Open Book by Albert Joseph Moore, Albert Joseph Moore (C19)(27 of100)
73 - Portrait of a Young Woman, Paris Bordone (C17) (28 of100)
72 - Portrait of a Girl, John Everett Millais (1857)(29 of100)
71 - Beata Beatrix, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1877)(30 of100)
70 - Proserpina, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1871)(31 of100)
69 - La magie noire, René Magritte(32 of100)
68 - Vanity, John William Waterhouse (circa 1910)(33 of100)
67 - Pandora, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1878)(34 of100)
66 - Vanity, Mattia Preti (C17)(35 of100)
65 - Lady in a Yellow Dress, Max Kurzweil (1899)(36 of100)
64 - The Bridesmaid, John Everett Millais (1851)(37 of100)
63 - Ophelia, John William Waterhouse (1894)(38 of100)
62 - The Three Graces of Chantilly by P. de Vecchi(39 of100)
61 - The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot, John William Waterhouse (circa 1894)(40 of100)
60 - Venetta, Samuel Luke Fildes (C19)(41 of100)
59 - The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, Paul Delaroche (1833)(42 of100)
58 - Young Woman Seated, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1877)(43 of100)
57 - Eleonora da Toledo, Agnolo Bronzino (C16)(44 of100)
56 - Primavera, Sandro Botticelli (1478)(45 of100)
55 - Jane Avril, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1899)(46 of100)
54 - Portrait of Madame Raymond de Verninac, Jacques-Louis David (C18)(47 of100)
53 - Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1865 - 1932), John Singer Sargent (1892)(48 of100)
52 - Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci (1506)(49 of100)
51 - Women Friends, Gustav Klimt (1916)(50 of100)
50 - Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses, John William Waterhouse (1891)(51 of100)
49 - The Source, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1856)(52 of100)
48 - Female Nude, Amedeo Modigliani (1916)(53 of100)
47 - At the Ball, Berthe Morisot (1875)(54 of100)
46 - Study. Torso, effect of sunlight, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (C19)(55 of100)
45 - The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli (1485)(56 of100)
44 - The Soul of the Rose, John William Waterhouse (1908)(57 of100)
43 - The Grande Odalisque, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1814)(58 of100)
42 - Emilie Floege, Gustav Klimt (C20)(59 of100)
41 - Olympia, Édouard Manet (1863)(60 of100)
40 - Venus Resting, Giorgione (1508-10)(61 of100)
39 - The Rokeby Venus, Diego Velazquez (1647-51)(62 of100)
38 - Skigge und Eingelstudie fur die Allegorie der Skulptor, Gustav Klimt (1890)(63 of100)
37 - Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Gustav Klimt (1907)(64 of100)
36 - Homage to Man Ray, Catherine Abel (2003)(65 of100)
35 - When Flowers Return, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (C20)(66 of100)
34 - Portrait of a Woman in a Golden Dress, painted in collaboration with Ernst Klimt, Gustav Klimt (C19)(67 of100)
33 - Badende, Francesco Hayez (1832)(68 of100)
32 - Nude Maja, Maja Desnuda (1800)(69 of100)
31 - Spring Breeze, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1895)(70 of100)
30 - The Roman Odalisque (Marietta), Camille Corot (1843)(71 of100)
29 - The Japanese Bath, James Tissot(72 of100)
28 - Reclining Nude, Paul Cezanne (1877)(73 of100)
27 - Nude Woman reclining on Yellow Cushions, Giovanni Boldini(74 of100)
26 - Poseur standing, front view, study for "Les poseuses" - Georges Seurat(75 of100)
25 - Nude, Henri Matisse(76 of100)
24 - Bather, Raoul Dufy (1908)(77 of100)
23 - Reclining Nude, Max Beckmann (1929)(78 of100)
Artfinder
22 - Model, Vladimir Tatlin (1913)(79 of100)
21 - Nude Series VIII, Georgia O'Keeffe(80 of100)
20 - Nude Woman, Giorgio de Chirico (1922)(81 of100)
19 - Standing Nude, Joan Miro (1918)(82 of100)
18 - Female Nude I, M.C. Escher (1920)(83 of100)
17 - Group of Four Nudes, Tamara de Lempicka (1925)(84 of100)
16 - Nude with black stockings, Marcel Duchamp (1910)(85 of100)
15 - Andromeda, Tamara de Lempicka (1929)(86 of100)
14 - India, Zinaida Serebriakova (1916)(87 of100)
13 - Kiss, AIKO (2011)(88 of100)
12 - The Scarlet Ribbon, Theo van Rysselberghe (1906)(89 of100)
11 - Nancy Astor, John Singer Sargent (1906)(90 of100)
10 - Woman with white stockings, Gustave Courbet (1861)(91 of100)
In his lifetime leading the Realist movement in 19th-century France, Courbet frequently courted controversy by painting so-called lower class members of society, from portraits of peasants to the working conditions of the poor.His Woman with white stockings is an extension of this ambition, and reminds us that people can be beautiful or alluring without being locked into a false pose.Rather than make her ugly, the fact his subject is caught in the ungainly but human action of dressing makes her more, not less attractive.
9 - Blue Nude, Henri Matisse (92 of100)
Matisse's famous Decoupages of block blue, sitting nudes are not conventionally sexy . They don't have facial features, for a start.But look long enough at the shapes, curves and angles of his portraits, and before long you realise that the Frenchman truly captured something of the essence of female grace and beauty.
8 - Golden Poppy Hour, Catherine Abel (2002)(93 of100)
Catherine Abel's painting captures not just a very beautiful woman, but an entire aesthetic inspired by the Art Deco movement. Her subject is sexy not because of her looks but because of the confidence and sense of self she exudes. It helps, of course, that she could also comfortably hold her own on the cover of FHM any time she wanted.
7 - Morning in a City, Edward Hopper (94 of100)
Everyone knows that people look sexiest when they're not trying to, and aren't aware anyone is looking. Edward Hopper, that great chronicler of American life, gives us just such a scene in his beautiful painting Morning In A City. Comfortably naked and lost in her thoughts as a new day breaks outside her window, the figure in the painting encapsulates that wonderful passage of time that occurs between sleep and being full awake.
6 - The Lady with the Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani), Leonardo da Vinci (1496)(95 of100)
Of the many ideals Leonardo da Vinci strived to achieve with his work, depicting true beauty was one of them. His masterpiece, the Mona Lisa is seen by many as his highest accomplishment in this sense, but for us it's all about Cecilia.The mistress of his patron in Milan Duke Lodovico Sforza, Cecilia is painted as angelic, delicate and chaste, but her meaningful, mischevious gaze hints at hidden passions. Or perhaps it's just us. In any case, she manages to look good holding an weasel, which we suspect is beyond even Cheryl Cole.
5 - Judith, Gustav Klimt (1901)(96 of100)
if you've got this far in the list, you'll have noticed that Gustav Klimt crops up a fair bit - and with good reason. The Austrian was as obsessed with the female body as any man has ever been, and painted most of his portraits with strong sense of eroticism.But there is something about Judith that sets her apart from his other visions of female sexuality. Nowhere near as explicit or heavily symbolic as much of his work, it's the expression on her face - lust? Ecstasy? Mirth? - that earns her a spot in our top ten.
4 - Cleopatra, John William Waterhouse (C19)(97 of100)
The English Pre-Raphaelite John William Waterhouse loved painting images from Greek mythology and Arthurian legend.And few were more beautiful - or seductive - than his brooding portrayal of Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.Glaring out at her kingdom with the poise and menace you'd expect from a leader who believed herself to be the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Cleopatra is art's ultimate femme fatale.
3 - Girl at Piano, Roy Lichtenstein (1963)(98 of100)
Back before lad's mags existed, Lichtenstein was already parodying the ways in which women were presented in popular culture - in this case, comic strips.He created a series of typical blonde beauties with ironic thought bubbles that satirised both stereotypes and male fantasies.Meaning his Girl at Piano is not only a looker, but a smart cookie too.
2 - Geisha, Dan Kitchener(99 of100)
Dan Kitchener's street art credentials could scarcely be much cooler. His work has been featured on everything from PS3 games to Paul McCartney's 2011 tour to TV spots for Jay-Z's The Blueprint III album. Oh - and he nominated for Urban Artist of the Year on the Banksy Forum.This stunning painting takes the traditional beauty of a Japanese Geishas and gives her a modern sexiness that catapulted it into our top two.
1 - Nude Woman In A Red Armchair, Pablo Picasso, (1932)(100 of100)
In at number one, it's a piece from the master of Modernism, Pablo Picasso.The crowning glory from a sequence of portraits Picasso made of his lover and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter at his studio at the Chateau de Boisgeloup, the accentuated curves, warm colours and coy expression are all heady expressions of love, but perhaps the real deal sealer is the metamorphic image - or 'double' - on Walter's face that reveals two figures kissing. Any woman who inspired this painting - even from one of the great masters - must have been sexy in a way that most of today's pouting magazine models could only dream of.
All images the credit of ArtFinder, where you can learn more about - and buy prints of - these fantastic paintings.