Ancient gay paintings

Sex, gender, and relationships were viewed very differently in the ancient world across cultures.

Introduction

This gallery explores the expression of same-sex like in the ancient Mediterranean through art. The Mediterranean was home to many cultures and societies, each with differing views on gender, sex, and relationships. Art was used to celebrate cultural ideals of love and desire or to subvert social norms.

Every culture represented in this gallery visualized love in its own way and had unique expectations of ideal relationships. Some cultures, like the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, used similar imagery to convey the dynamics of desire.

Mastaba of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep

Same-sex devotion and desire are infrequently depicted in ancient Egyptian art, although Egypt did not have any prohibitions against homosexuality. A rare example is the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, two men who have been speculated to be a couple. In art from their shared tomb, Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were depicted in a manner consistent with married cou

Male Homosexuality in Western Art

Homosexuality is still an underrepresented topic in art historical discourse. Since our magazine stands for inclusivity, we strive to present to you works that might be omitted in a traditional art history course. We have already published a piece on lesbianism in art. Today it’s time for male homosexuality in art.

Ancient Education

Warren Cup, named after its first modern owner, depicts a typical Roman banquet scene: probably an older, or more experienced guy, engages in sex with a beardless younger man. Such practices were very common in Roman high society. Older men picked adolescent boys to mentor and educate them in the art of loving and living. They would grant political influence in return for physical pleasures. Firstly, they would all participate in a feast, eat and refreshment (from cups like this one), the young boys entertaining the older men with their singing, dancing and recital of poetry (you can see the lyre on the left). Homosexuality was so much part of everyday life to the extent that the Romans didn’t even hold a word for

Ganymede was 'the fairest of mortal men; wherefore the gods caught him up on high to be cupbearer to Zeus by reason of his beauty, that he might dwell with the immortals.'

So says Homer in the Iliad. Throughout antiquity, there was a fascination with the tale of how Zeus, king of the gods, fell in care with a human boy. The scene of Zeus swooping down from Olympus to steal away Ganymede, known as 'The Rape of Ganymede', appeared on pottery, frescoes, statues and mosaics.

Zeus and Ganymede

c– BC, Attic red-figured kylix, attributed to the Penthesilea Painter. Ferrara Archaeological Museum

While many ancient depictions from Greece demonstrate two humans in the tale of Ganymede, the Romans favoured a version more in keeping with Zeus' fondness for wooing mortals in zoological form. According to the Roman poet Ovid:

'The king of the gods was once fired with love for Phrygian Ganymede, and when that happened Jupiter found another shape preferable to his own. Wishing to turn himself into a bird, he nonetheless scorned to change into any save that which can carry hi

Homosexuality in art: a journey between ancient and contemporary times

Homosexuality in ancient and current art masterpieces has always been a debated topic that still arouses the interest of scholars and art lovers. 

Many of the great artists of antiquity and the Renaissance painted erotic scenes between people of the equal sex: in ancient cultures often explicitly; in the Renaissance, however, more cryptically, given the prevailing homophobia in those times that, in many cases, led homosexual people to prison or the death penalty. Homosexuality in new art has, on the other hand, been a driving compel behind many of the greatest artistic expressions of the 20th century and has had an important political function, contributing to the creation of an alternative culture and the struggle for civil rights for the LGBTQIA+ community.

In this article, we will explore how art has represented homosexuality over the centuries and how it has influenced adj culture.

Homosexuality in ancient art

In many ancient cultures, homosexuality was accepted and even celebrate