Why just the torso?  Though broken, classical torsos continue to be cherished by civilization.  These anonymous forms hearken back to the birth of Western culture.  Greek and Roman sculptures, affected by war and decline, their ideal bodies smashed and cast aside by marauders, would later be unearthed and studied by scholars and artists.  The ideal torso is universal; it is all of us.  In another sense, it is our vital core.  It can represent the source of raw human emotion, or it can simply express the quiet gracefulness of a pose.   From the Renaissance to the 19th century and to present day, artists and art lovers alike have been drawn to the timeless beauty of a well-sculpted torso.