Could be. I have visited the British Museum but I wasn't allowed to look in any drawers. The most impressive thing I remember seeing was the Rosetta Stone. All the same, a surprising amount of nude artwork was still produced in the so-called Victorian era, which technically ended when Victoria died in 1901 and likewise, it really only applies to Great Britain, Ireland, etc. Maybe nude artwork was their form of pinup art. There are some nude statues in Paris in bronze that reflect which parts of the statue that viewers feel compelled to touch by the dark bronze coloring having been rubbed off. I think we're kidding ourselves if we claim that nude art is somehow innocent.
Although the somewhat widespread existence of nude public art (virtually all statuary or relief) is something of a paradox, since public nudity is pretty much forbidden in most places, there is even more that was not intended for public display. That is, they were privately owned and for display in the owner's home. Same for other artwork. As such, there were no limits or conventions as to what might be shown in the art and would probably reflect the interest of the buyer or current fashions in the art world. Some of that has gravitated to museums and galleries. All the same, I'd say the majority of people grow up never seeing such things and had to rely on the National Geographic and Look Magazine, which seems to always had pinups.
