modesty?

[rainbow402]

A nude photo of the French First Lady Carla Bruni has been put up for auction at Christie's New York, just hours ahead of her and her husband President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Britain.
The image, by photographer Michel Comte, shows a younger Miss Bruni facing the camera wearing no more than a thoughtful expression, her hands crossed at waist height to cover her modesty.

Hi, I assume " modesty" is the euphemism for " sex organ" here from the context and picture. But I fail to find such a relevant entry in both " Cambridge Advance Dictionary and online Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Am I wrong? Thanks in advance.

 

[David L.]

The photo might have been of her torso, with her hands across her modesty, here being a humourous euphemism for her breasts.
When you looked up 'modesty', did you expect to find a long list of all the body bits (including bottoms!) and whatever else might need to be veiled to preserve public sensibilities? :lol:
Here, the writer used 'modesty' and we understood what he really meant. It is only up to the vocabulary and skill of the writer and perhaps some other word could have been used and we would have smiled, knowing what was meant. I am no such writer, but another word that could equally have been used would have been her 'shyness'.

 

[susiedqq]

Are you sure it was not:

. . . to cover her, modestly.

(modestly is an adverb to tell how she covered herself)

 

[susiedqq]

Sorry - your quote was correct . .

The image, by photographer Michel Comte, shows a younger Miss Bruni facing the camera wearing no more than a thoughtful expression, her hands crossed at waist height to cover her modesty.

 

[Anglika]

Are you sure it was not:

. . . to cover her, modestly.

(modestly is an adverb to tell how she covered herself)

Not really, since this is a reference to the nude photographs in which her hands are placed strategically. I think David's suggestion is about right.

This was another way of saying the same thing: "Michel Comte, the Swiss photographer who took picture of the then Miss Bruni posing naked with her crossed hands acting as a fig leaf"

 

[rainbow402]

Hi All,

Thank you very much for your responses. :up:I think I hit it but I hoped to grasp the polite usage of it so that next time in such a similar case I can follow suit.

Have a good day, you all.