Twee friezen met bladranken c. 1731

Jean Lepautre created this print, “Two friezes with foliage”, during the Baroque period, a time of grand expression and ornamentation. Notice how the masculine figures are embedded within an overwhelming amount of decorative foliage. The images can be understood within the historical context of the male gaze, where the female body and, in this case, the male body, is presented as an object of heterosexual male desire. However, if we queerly examine the male figures, we see more than that, their strength is a celebration of their form, but one that's softened by the surrounding foliage. It's an intertwining of masculine identity with the fluidity of nature. Lepautre uses a traditional representation of the male nude to create an alternative narrative, one where strength and vulnerability co-exist. The print is a celebration of identity that challenges traditional norms, subtly woven into the grandiosity of Baroque art.