Coxsoft Art's Latest

Here's the latest addition to the Coxsoft Art website: Akselli Gallen-Kallela's Ad Astra (1894), which has had a glaring white background above the curve of the frame removed. Click the title link to view a larger version. Why is it that those old artists insisted on painting full frontal female nudes as though the model were wearing flesh-coloured knickers? Maybe models didn't fancy shaving down there with a cut-throat razor, so the artist needed to guess!