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A fig leaf is the covering up of an act or an object that is embarrassing or disagreeable. The term is a metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
ical reference to the Biblical Book of Genesis
Genesis

Genesis or Breishit is the first book of the Bible used by Judaism and Christianity, and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah....
, in which Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are the First man or woman created by God in the Hebrew creation story told in Genesis 1-2....
 used fig
FIG

FIG may refer to:* F?d?ration Internationale de Gymnastique* International Federation of Surveyors...
 leaves to cover "their nakedness" after eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In the Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden from which God directly forbade Adam to eat ....
.

History
In Ancient Greek art, male nakedness, including the genitals, was common, although the female vulval area
Mons pubis

In human anatomy or in mammals in general, the mons pubis , also known as the mons veneris or simply the mons, is the fatty tissue present in women above the pubic bone....
  was generally covered in art for public display.






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A fig leaf is the covering up of an act or an object that is embarrassing or disagreeable. The term is a metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
ical reference to the Biblical Book of Genesis
Genesis

Genesis or Breishit is the first book of the Bible used by Judaism and Christianity, and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah....
, in which Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are the First man or woman created by God in the Hebrew creation story told in Genesis 1-2....
 used fig
FIG

FIG may refer to:* F?d?ration Internationale de Gymnastique* International Federation of Surveyors...
 leaves to cover "their nakedness" after eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In the Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden from which God directly forbade Adam to eat ....
.

History


In Ancient Greek art, male nakedness, including the genitals, was common, although the female vulval area
Mons pubis

In human anatomy or in mammals in general, the mons pubis , also known as the mons veneris or simply the mons, is the fatty tissue present in women above the pubic bone....
  was generally covered in art for public display. This tradition continued in Ancient Roman art until the conversion of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 to Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, when heroic nudity vanished. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, the nude was replaced by the naked and only the unfortunate (most often the damned
Damnation

"Damnation" is the concept of condemnation by God such that results in a being's punishment. The word "damn" is widely used as a moderate profanity....
) were usually shown naked, although the depictions were then often rather explicit. Adam and Eve were often shown wearing fig or other leaves, following the Biblical description. This was especially a feature of Northern Renaissance
Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy. Before 1450 Italian Renaissance Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy....
 art.
Masaccio Theexpulsionofadamandevefromeden Restoration
From about 1530, the developing reaction to Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 freedoms and excesses that led to the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
 also led to a number of artworks, especially in churches or public places, being altered to reduce the amount of nudity on display. Often, as in the famous case of Michelangelo
Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer....
's The Last Judgement
The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

The Last Judgment is a fresco by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It took nine years to complete. Michelangelo began working on it three decades after finishing the Sistine chapel ceiling....
, drapery or extra branches from any nearby bush was used. For free-standing statues this did not work well, and carved or cast fig leaves were sometimes added, such as with the plaster copy of Michelangelo's David
David (Michelangelo)

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. The 5.17 meter marble statue portrays the Bible David in the depictions of nudity....
 displayed in Victorian era
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
 London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. The Adam and Eve panels on the Ghent Altarpiece
Ghent Altarpiece

The Ghent Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is a very large and complex Early Netherlandish painting polyptych panel painting which was once in the Joost Vijdt chapel at Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, but was later moved for security reasons to the chapel of the cathedral....
, already equipped with fig leaves by Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck was an Early Netherlandish painting active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
, were simply replaced with 19th century panels copying the figures but clothed. Many of these alterations have since been reversed, damaging some of the statues.

Modern day

Falk, Benjamin J
Eugen Sandow
Eugen Sandow

Eugen Sandow , born Friederich Wilhelm M?ller, was a pioneering bodybuilder of the Victorian era and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding"....
, often considered the first modern-day bodybuilder, was an admirer of the human physique, and in addition to strongman sideshow
Sideshow

In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus , carnival, fair or other such attraction....
s, he performed "muscle displays" by posing in the nude — save for a fig leaf that he would don in imitation of statues he had seen in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 as a boy.

Metaphorical use

The expression fig leaf has a pejorative
Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
 metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
ical sense meaning a cover for any thing or behaviour that might be considered shameful, with the implication that the cover is only a token gesture and the truth is obvious to all who choose to see it.

In the context of negotiation, an offer might be characterized as a "fig leaf" if that offer is actually a ploy to conceal a sinister plan.

See also

  • Expurgation
    Expurgation

    Expurgation is a form of censorship by way of purging anything noxious, offensive, or erroneous, usually from an artistic work. It has also been called bowdlerization, after Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he considered to be more appropriate for women and children....