Why are all the dudes in Renaissance paintings so hot?
Patricia Simons has argued, the boundaries for men between sensuality and sexuality were blurred. Christians believed that the hotter you were, the holier you were because your inner beauty was reflected outwardly.
Artists really took this idea and ran with it, putting the “homo” in homosocial. The male form was considered the apex of beauty.
You really have to look no further than any painting of Saint Sebastian to see that. Saint Sebastian has been a queer icon for centuries, and the thirst really started in the Renaissance with artists like Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, and Antonio del Pollaiuolo.
Often shown tied to a tree or post and pierced by arrows, this holy hottie was a favorite subject among artists like Titian, Rubens, and Antonio del Pollaiuolo.
