I'm ending our Von Gloeden triple feature with a self portrait that at least one writer says caused something of a scandal when it was published. It was titled "The Nazarene" which is a clear reference to Jesus Christ. Apparently those who knew of Von Gloeden's main career photographing nude males, some underage and/or suggestive, found it unseemly for him to depict himself as Jesus. I can't help but remark on what looks to me like a slightly mischievous or wicked facial expression.
I swear he looks almost like Gene Kelly.
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Perhaps.
DeleteThis would have been quite daring in those days - particularly in a Catholic country and Italy at that. That said, for all the Victorian religious revival, there was a very strong streak of iconoclastic behaviour at work and much of it led by gay men, whose identity as gay men had been increasing since the mid-19th century. There is no antidote to ridicule.
ReplyDeleteI love the last sentence in your comment. For some reason, my eyes were drawn to his hands.
Deletethree comments: how soft and plumps are his hands, and the long hair is surely a wig (or an extension) as the hair goes from curly over the brows to long straight locks on the shoulders. The image resolution and crispiness is extraordinary!
ReplyDeleteYour observations are keen and spot on. I had the same thoughts about his hair and hands.
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