The Beautiful BoyFrom Adonis and images of St. Sebastian to James Dean and Calvin Klein models, beautiful boys have been quietly admired since the beginning of time. While most agree that women have been treated and depicted as sex objects, Germaine Greer's sensational thesis is that the erotic charge of male imagery has been rigorously repressed throughout history. Men and women alike have been blind to the sensuality and flirtatiousness found in images of boys, as well as to the many depictions of female bodies based on the juvenile male-from Michelangelo's female figures to waif like supermodels. This iconic ideal of male physical beauty is revealed in hundreds of dazzling images by the world's greatest artists and photographers. The Kritios boy, Caravaggio's Love Triumphant, Larry Clark's Oklahoma City, Nijinsky in "L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune," Cellini's Narcissus, Donatello's David, Thomas Eakins' young swimmers, and many other examples, provide striking evidence that the models of today- with their wide shoulders and narrow hips-echo the boyish ideal. |
Common terms and phrases
Adonis amorous angels Annibale Carracci Apollodorus arrows Art Gallery artist ballet Barberini Faun beauty Belvedere Apollo body boy's boyhood bronze Canova Caravaggio Carracci century BCE child classical clothed contrapposto Cupid and Psyche dancing David death depicted Dionysos draped dressed Duke Dyck Endymion Eros erotic eyes Fabula face Farnese father Faun female figure Florence Francesco Francesco Furini fresco Gallery of Ireland gaze genitals Giovanni girls Greek Guido Reni hair hand head hero Hyginus kiss Kunsthistorisches Museum Lady legs London Louvre lover Lubomirsky Luca Giordano male nude masculine Michelangelo mother Musée Museo Museum naked nakedness Narcissus National Gallery Opposite Orpheus Ovid painted painter Palazzo Palazzo Farnese Paris passion Pepys picture play poem portrait pose Prince Raphael Reynolds Roman Rome Rubens sculpture Sebastian seen sexual shows soldiers Tate Britain Titian Uffizi usually Venice Venus wearing winged woman women young youth