While the female nude has been a predominant symbol in Western iconography, the male nude has followed a less exposed and often underestimated trajectory. The Male Nude It carries out an in-depth review of this genre, which for centuries remained in the background or only accessible clandestinely, harboring images that oscillate between the artistic and the provocative.

From the anonymous and almost forbidden eroticism of the 19th century to the provocative works of photographers from the second half of the 20th century, this collection not only documents but celebrates the male nude in all its facets. Early images include the iconic homoerotic photographs of Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden, who captured male youth in Taormina with a classical sensibility that redefined the aesthetics of his time.

The book also explores the golden age of publications such as Pictorial Physicswhich not only functioned as bodybuilding magazines in the 1950s, but also became visual emblems of the emerging gay culture, establishing a bridge between male sensuality and queer visibility.

Through its pages, The Male Nude It includes masters of the nude such as Herbert List, with his poetic gaze; George Platt Lynes, who fused surrealism and sensuality; and Robert Mapplethorpe, whose work provoked controversy and cultural debate, broadening the discussion about the male body as an object of art and desire. It also explores the virile pin-ups of underground magazines that challenged conventional norms of gender and aesthetics, generating a diverse and complex visual narrative.