Gay Art. The Kiss – How Caravaggio would have wanted to paint it

Darkness. Absolute darkness all around. Bodies in light, a light Caravaggio loved – the painter who turned taverns into cathedrals, who painted prostitutes as saints, who died on the run for murder and, not incidentally, slept with men. His light came from nothing, fell on skin and muscles, and devoured everything else.

His style was unique. We have drawn on it to create an image of gay men as Caravaggio, the gay bad boy of the Baroque, would have passionately done, had he been allowed.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610): Murderer, drunkard, genius – and the most openly gay painter of his time. In an era where sodomy, the term then used to slander sex between men, was punishable by death, he lived as he was. His desire for men was not a marginal detail of his life – it was the core of his gaze. The bodies he painted, the intensity, the closeness, the light on skin and muscles: no heterosexual would have painted it that way. Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte took him into his palazzo – as a protégé, as an artist, as a man to whom he gave more than commissions. What was between them, history has discreetly kept silent. The paintings have not.

This image speaks precisely this language. Two men entwine. Hands grip firmly – on shoulder, on waist. Their faces are close, their lips about to touch. Sweat glistens on their skin. This is desire, physical and direct, painted with the power of the Baroque.

Caravaggio painted men in extreme moments. Only a kiss between two men he never put on canvas. Because he wasn't allowed to. This image does – in its imagery, with its impact.

Historiography in oil. What the old masters omitted, had to omit, this picture shows.

Canvas print – Premium Quality Canvas Print

Print-on-Demand: Each work is printed personally for you after your order. High-quality canvas, rich colors, precise reproduction of dramatic chiaroscuro. Can soon adorn your wall.

Gay Art. Gay art for your home. ARTWORK IMAGES.