On the other hand the status of Caravaggio on whether or no he was a homosexual or heterosexual did not matter as much to Mia Cinotti. She stated, “ that we do not know anything about the homosexuality of Caravaggio and Del Monte “(Cinotti 216). She mentions how homosexuality was not personal or social like it was later seen as. The norm system she talks about how it is one that evades the concept of homosexuality because no one knows for sure if they were or not. So the focus then shifts to an expert who studies the sexual cultures within Florence and Venice during this time frame. Michael Rocke takes a look at sexuality as a whole in his book Forbidden Friendships, Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (1996). Rocke states …show more content…
The author Pio Pecchiai in Roma nel Cinqucento (1948) talks about “ vizio dei Greci” as being an embarrassment. From this book you find that a boy named Cecco del Caravaggio, lived with Caravaggio (Pecchiai 317). Although young boys, were presumed to be educated by older men on sexuality, and as we find out in the Pecchiai book that Caravaggio did have a young male prostitute he payed visits to. At this time all this is seemingly normal in Caravaggio’s …show more content…
To assume that norms from one place to another are the same is very dangerous to do because everything and everyone is different on how they handle and see things. This is shown on how sexuality is seen in today’s world vs. Caravaggio’s time. It could be said that Caravaggio when arriving in Rome that he noticed the norms and how society functioned within the high class was involved around the pleasure of sexuality when associated with the norms. Rocke, Ruggiero, and Gallucci pointed out that sexual relations between men and boys in Florence adhered to strict, ridged codes of behavior around the twin axes of power and gender (Gallucci 38). This is noticed with Caravaggio when he was working for Cardinal Del Monte, in which exposed Caravaggio to appreciate and love boys and young men. This was due to his high social ranking in
Simons, P. Hercules In Italian Renaissance Art: Masculine Labour And Homoerotic Libido. Art History, 31, 632-664.
Homosexuality from a New Perspective Sexuality means many different things to different people, especially sexuality of a homosexual nature. Everyone has their own personal ideologies about sexuality, many of which have been forced on us by mainstream society's portrayal of what is right or wrong. Bersani's objective is to take these societal sexual idiosyncrasies and turn them upside down to reveal how he feels gay male sex should be. In Bersani's article, Is the Rectum a Grave? , he entertains ideas of the self, sexuality (especially homosexuality), and power.
"In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo." (19-20) Given he is a
In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period. Instead it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry. The first idealizes women as a catalyst to male virtue, insisting on their absolute purity. The second fears and mistrusts them for their (usually fantasized) infidelity, an infidelity that requires their actual or temporary elimination from the world of men, which then re-forms [sic] itself around the certainty of men’s shared victimization (Neely 127).
Homosexuality has been looked down upon for centuries. Even today, homosexuality is considered a taboo in many societies and religions. What’s even more looked down upon in many societies and religions is lesbianism. In the 19th century, it was unthinkable for women to even work outside of their homes; therefore, women being emotionally and sexually attached to each other were downright ignominy. In the 19th century, what Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu presents in his Victorian gothic story, “Carmilla,” not only challenges typical Victorian gothic, but also breaks the barrier in a society where lesbianism is considered a taboo. Through “Carmilla,” Le Fanu breaks the barrier in society for lesbianism in the 19th century by challenging three important things: traditional vampire traits, role of women, and religion.
McGuinness was intrigued by the notoriety of Caravaggio and it is on the eccentric artist that he built the play Innocence on. McGuinness was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish literature in 1985 which enabled him to see a full exhibit of Caravaggio’s paintings. In Helen Lojek’s book, Contexts for Frank McGuinness’s Drama, She notes that from this exhibition he brought home a catalogue full of handwritten notes. It is obvious that McGuinness had an instant reaction and compulsion to write on Caravaggio. McGuinness consciously and carefully structured this play. This is evident as we see in part I of the play in that it is centred on Caravaggio’s life, and part II on Caravaggio’s death. Although Innocence is heavily fictionalised it is actually McGuinness’ interpret...
The Middle Ages were a time of expanding and experimenting sexually for the people. Religious figures who had taken vows of celibacy had children, sometimes with more than one woman. Even some popes of the time had illicit affairs. However, adultery was often condoned, especially in knights, because the Chivalry Code expected of them certain “actions”:
These three articles give the modern reader a sense of what sexuality was in Ancient Rome. These articles reinforce that sexuality is important in human societies. They show that how you did or did not do sexual activity was very important and under scrutiny like in Western societies today. Though these articles are using limited resources to make conclusions, they do their best to help the reader make sense of sexual Roman society.
Richlin, Amy (ed). (1992). Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome. New York: Oxford University Press.
St. Augustine's sordid lifestyle as a young man, revealed in Confessions, serves as a logical explanation for his limited view of the purpose of sexuality in marriage. His life from adolescence to age thirty-one was so united to passionate desire and sensual pleasure, that he later avoided approval of such emotions even within the sanctity of holy union. From the age of sixteen until he was freed of promiscuity fifteen years later, Augustine's life was woven with a growing desire for illicit acts, until that desire finally became necessity and controlled his will. His lust for sex began in the bath houses of Tagaste, where he was idle without schooling and "was tossed about…and boiling over in…fornications" (2.2). Also during that time, young Augustine displayed his preoccupation with sexual experience by fabricating vulgarities simply to impress his peers. In descript...
In Sigmund Freud’s “Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness”, contained in Sexuality and the Psychology of Love, the writer presents separate roles for men and women as it relates to sexuality, even referring to a “double code of morality” (22) for the genders. In his paper the former often takes the role of the subject while the former becomes the object. In fact, women are described as the “true sexual guardians of the race” glorified, it seems, instead of truly studied. However, in one particular section of the essay, Freud turns his focus onto the female sexuality. In specific he references the various factors that, in his eyes, can influence the female sexual formation. The primary influences being that of the society, primarily the institution of marriage, and that of the family, which would include both a woman’s parents and children. After discussing these elements, Freud then
...affairs is not a recent activity that just started, it has been around for decades. Even coming from the Castorini family which seems like a very traditional old school Italian family things like love in the later years continuously occur.
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...
Michelangelo and Caravaggio at some point in history were the most famous artists in Rome, Italy. Michelangelo a prominent architect, poet, sculptor, and painter found his success in Italy during the High Renaissance period (1490-1527). While Caravaggio was the most popular painter in Rome and spearheaded the Baroque period (1650-1750). Artists like Caravaggio in the Baroque period turned to a powerful and dramatic realism, intensified by bold contrasts of light and dark. Michelangelo’s reputation as a painter fluctuated during the High Renaissance, but his devotion to his art and his genius undoubtedly influenced artists such as Caravaggio during the Baroque Period. However, each artist had incredibly different styles, and utilized different mediums in their most popular works of art. Despite that there are also many similarities which indicate Michaelangelo’s heavy influences on Caravaggio and Baroque Period art. The comparison will be between Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Fresco. c. 1508-1512 and Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Oil
... decades ago. This book is one that will allow the reader to view many aspects of sexuality from a social standpoint, and apply it to certain social attitudes in our society today, these attitudes can range from the acceptance of lesbian and gays, and the common sight of sex before marriage and women equality. The new era of sexuality has taken a definite "transformation" as Giddens puts it, and as a society we are living in the world of change in which we must adapt, by accepting our society as a changing society, and not be naive and think all the rules of sexuality from our parents time our still in existence now.