Saint sebastian

Saint Sebastian by Jusepe de Ribera, 1636

St Sébastien is probably the most depicted Saint. And the most depicted gay icon today. He is represented most of the times since the Renaissance as a young, slim, athletic, sensual, beautiful young man (even though during the first centuries he had another image, at least older). Maybe it is the reason he became a gay icon. Catedral de Se. Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Brian McMorrow. Hundreds if not thousands of paintings, drawings, mosaics, engravings can be seen from St Sébastien…

Workshop of Carlo Dolci. Saint Sebastian.

Here, nothing violated the beauty of the body presented by Colacicchi, intensified by the raking light that arrives from the left, languid and and sensual in line with the modern reinterpretation activated in 1911 by Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Le martyre de Saint Sébastien.

Despite their poor reputation, gossip brings considerable benefits: in 70-90% of cases they are fair, they strengthen social ties between people and serve as a means of preventing selfish, antisocial behavior. But the content of gossip reveals yet another of their purpose. Gossip is attractive in many ways for the very reasons why other forms of narrative are attractive. Often they contain secret information that the gossip shares with those it trusts.

painting by Peter Paul Rubens (Museum: Rubenshuis)