Naakte jongen met bloem before 1894

This black and white photograph of a nude boy holding a flower was taken by Wilhelm von Gloeden, an artist working at the turn of the 20th century. Von Gloeden lived and worked in Sicily, where he became known for his idyllic images of young, often nude, Sicilian men. Von Gloeden’s work offers a window into the complex negotiation of art, identity, and desire at the time. As a queer man in a heteronormative society, his photographs reflect both a personal longing for beauty and companionship, and an engagement with classical artistic traditions. In his own words, the models he worked with were, “the sons of peasants, fishermen, and goatherds, who are as beautiful as antique bronzes.” While celebrated for their aesthetic beauty and the homoerotic undercurrents, von Gloeden's photographs also invite questions about the power dynamics inherent in the act of photographing young, working-class men by an older, privileged artist. His work both challenged and reinforced prevailing social norms, creating an enduring, if complex, legacy.