Fine Art Fetish Friday

Portrait of Jean Baptiste Belley by Anne-Louis Girodet (1797).

Belley was a freed slave who rose to prominence in the French military. The subject in the bust is a well known abolitionist of the time. Despite the feminine sounding name, the artist was a male.

The portrait is notable for Belley’s impressive bulge, which was clearly intentional given how it is framed by the his hand. There’s a lot to, um, unpack there. Some of the artist’s other paintings also had suggestions of homoerotic themes. And then there’s a less pleasant racial context since large genitalia in those times were considered somewhat animalistic. Not unlike similar stereotyping that continues over two centuries later.

(I wish I could attribute these historical details to the BBC, but it comes from a few random online articles).

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emmasfriend · 46-50, F

Thank you for keeping us entertained with this series.

Yes, he is a big boy !

Loved the joke about the BBC !

Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M

@emmasfriend Thanks, EF. I appreciated your suggestion to identify the artist, work, and year. I was doing that occasionally but not consistently. I find I learn a little more about art history even while having fun on these posts. This particular image comes out of the French revolutionary period. Liberty, equality, fraternity!

devonman · 61-69, M

That’s is interesting , thanks .
I read that when male nude models were selected by artists in the 17/ 18th centuries , it was thought that a large penis was peculiar to ‘ lower class , working men . It had nothing to do with race .
So those with an average size endowment were used .

Finchy · 41-45, M

But isn’t it nice that we’re more accepting of large genitalia now?

Degbeme · 70-79, M

Is that folded? 🤔🤭

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