This full-color edition will not only display the most wonderful homoerotic works of art since our hallowed forefathers the Greeks, it will fully treat the sexuality of the times so that the artists can be placed in the context of the eroticism that reigned during the Renaissance--a sensuality that involved full access to both sexes. The historical context will also be made clear, as necessary as gold-picture-frames to the real treasure: the paintings the frames encompass. We'll learn why Florence was the epicenter of the Renaissance, its core the de' Medici who housed Michelangelo and his lover Torrigiano, a boy who broke Michelangelo's nose and fled to England to avoid the consequences, taking the Renaissance there. The Renaissance that took root in France where, under François I, Cellini and his lovers caroused through the streets of Paris, and François held the head of Leonardo da Vinci in his arms as the greatest human being to have ever lived--a man whose inspiration was the boys he loved--rendered his last breath. The historical setting provided the rich nutrient for the creation of the jewels that have enhanced our lives: the Saint Sebastians of Bernini, Ribera and Reni; the Perseus of Cellini, the David of Michelangelo, the John the Baptist of da Vinci; the never-equaled plunge into the dark and desolate hearts of men as portrayed by Caravaggio; and the scores of other painters and sculptors included in these page.
A never-surpassed alignment of the planets, the right time and the right place, Italy the Eternal and its greatest wonder: its artists, sculptors, painters, writers, and the players who motivated their art, like Juan Borgia, supreme in his skin-tight trousers, billowing white shirt and black pearl-studded doublet, the garments he was wearing when brought up in a net from the depths of the Tiber; Italy's warriors, Popes Julius II and Alexander VI, along with Alexander's ruthless son Cesare Borgia; Italy's rulers, beginning with Lorenzo Il Magnifico and his humanist grandfather Cosimo; and the inspiration for all that is glorious to this glorious land: its youths.
