Artist slims down Renassance paintings

An Italian artist says she is using a computer program to take Renaissance paintings of women and slim them down to the modern perception of the feminine ideal. Anna Utopia Giordano said she altered paintings including "Venus and Cupid" by Diego Velazquez, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday. "Art is always in search of the perfect physical form -- it has evolved through history, from the classical proportions of ancient Greece, to the prosperous beauty of the Renaissance, to the spindly look of models like Twiggy and the athletic look of our own time," the artist said. Giordano reduced the paintings to show how the fashion world can digitally manipulate the images of models and create a look that is virtually impossible for most women to attain, the Telegraph said.