In the Galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago hangs an wonderful painting by the 16th Century Italian, Baroque artist Bartolomeo Manfredi. The title of the piece is "Cupid Chastised".

This erotic paintings depicts Mars (the god of war) striking Cupid with a whip while Venus (the goddess of love) crouched to the side attempts to quit Mars from his assault on the younger Cupid. The scene displays Mars dressed in Roman garb with a striking red toga, Venus in a stola, and cupid naked with quiver, bow, and arrows.

When you first search at this piece you are taken by the fantastic artistry of the operate. The scene is very dramatic with Mars thrusting Cupid down prepared to strike while Venus is off to the aspect in shock hoping to avoid Mars from striking. The colours, composition, and facial expression are all very fine and expose an interesting story. The painting was initially thought to be a Caravaggio and with good cause for the fantastic execution of chiaroscuro drastically intensifies the drama in the scene.

Upon viewing this function of artwork 1 may well think that it is standard Classical Mythology with Mars chastising cupid for his entanglement with himself and Venus. However this is not the scenario at all, what we have here is 1 of the most intense scenes of homo-eroticism in European Art!

While I was a college student at the School of the Artwork Institute of Chicago I had the privilege to get a training course of European Painting by the famous professor Robert J. Loescher. In one of our walks via the galleries of the Artwork Institute professor Loescher stopped the course just before this famous erotic painting and asked us to respond to it. When we completed our responses (which have been all missing the stage) he then described the operate of artwork to us.

Roman mythology is the automobile utilized by. What we have right here is Cupid depicted as a young male (a clean hairless youth or "twink" in gay slang, not an innocent winged baby) receiving sexual gratification from Mars' strikes! Cupid's ass situated lifeless center is clearly the focal stage of this painting as he awaits Mars' strikes with the ropes. If you appear at Cupid's wrist it is limp (passively submitting to Mars) not clenched as it would be in a struggle and although blind folded his mouth is open demonstrating him in a condition of total ecstasy. Both male figures are handsome, dominant, and fantastically rendered. Whereas Venus, shoved off to the side, with her breast hanging out (a ploy to satisfy straight viewers) is fairly homely searching, not significantly to say for the goddess of love!

Truly this virile male to male intensive sexual interaction leaves all of us to reflect on our possess sexual persona. As the saying goes "Do not decide a ebook by its cover", nonetheless, take a second search!