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Fine art is all about the appreciation of aesthetic beauty, whether that's a stirring landscape or a curious abstract. But you know how it is -- sometimes you go to the zoo to see the monkeys doin' it, and sometimes you go to the museum to see a bit of masterfully rendered T&A. There's no shame. The female body should be celebrated.

So, in that spirit, we offer a gallery of the most gorgeous depictions of women from the history of art. Everything from Renoir's naked swimmers to Giorgione's "Sleeping Venus" is here. And if you're a lover of the nude, please let us know in the comments what great works we've mistakenly omitted. Needless to say, we're novices when it comes to curating, though we know a good naked lady when we see one.

Hottest Women in the History of Art

    Renoir's "The Bathers" comes to mind every time we're hiking through the woods, daydreaming about discovering a group of five nude beauties enjoying in a swim that totally won't mind if we watch them frolic.

    ocaiw.com

    Tom Wesselman borrowed the bright Pop Art aesthetic of the 60s and applied it to subject we can't help but find so much more compelling than a soup can.

    rogallery.com

    If you threw a pair of short shorts on this girl in Van Gogh's "Nude Woman Reclining" (1887), you'd have a prototype for every American Apparel ad.

    vangoghreproductions.com

    Fernando Botero was what you might call a BBW enthusiast. The Colombian artist loved the larger ladies, and who are we to begrudge him those simple pleasures?

    ocaiw.com

    Paul Gaugin is known for his classy portraits of Tahitian beauties. Tahiti is a cluster of islands that are way too expensive and full of sunburned honeymooners. Thanks to Gaugin, though, everyone thinks it's a bronze-skinned paradise where big-breasted women lounge on the beach all day.

    ocaiw.com

    Modigliani often refrained from giving his painted subjects eyeballs, which isn't that sexy of a look. But he also gave us this stellar nude, with the most impossible hip-to-posterior ratio we've seen in a long time. Hard proof that Modigliani was an early proponent of junk in the trunk.

    ocaiw.com

    The 19th century French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres had the right idea with "The Turkish Bath." Because sometimes all you need in life is a roomful of sweaty, naked women, including one whose job it is to jam on a guitar.

    wetcanvas.com

    Egon Schiele's drawing style influenced generations of artists. It's possible that his hungry-looking models gave birth to heroin chic and, therefore, Kate Moss.

    ocaiw.com

    Ah, Picasso. All this talk of "cubism" is besides the point. We all know the man was painting what it's like to see the world through beer goggles.

    brynmawr.edu

    When Degas took a break from painting ballet dancers, he turned his attention to the naked female body. Even though we're not foot fetishists, we dig the shamelessly voyeuristic vibe of his work, "Nude Wiping Her Foot."

    fotos.org