The shape of the fig leaf, how the photographer (or Sandow) positioned it, how the photographer arranged the studio light to strike it, and even its size were calculated to tickle gay men’s fantasies. But Sandow’s poses were also highly erotic spectacles targeted to gay men. The photos were distributed as studies to inspire men who were involved in “physical culture,” the contemporary term for bodybuilding. He is often almost fully nude, his genitals hidden only by a well-positioned fig leaf. The Gladiator is soft-core porn, late 19th-century style, and it gave Sandow an idea.įor the next six years, Sandow merchandised his body by posing for photographs, garnering profit and publicity for himself. What is in focus is Sandow’s highly-chiseled body, which is clearly seen as an object to be ogled and adored. 2), depicts the model in gladiatorial drag, standing in the middle of what appears to be a Roman arena, with crowds and other background elements out of focus. Hunt’s painting of Sandow, The Gladiator (Fig. By complimenting the Adonis quality of his body, the gentleman declared his desire for the 22-year-old hunk. By speaking first, he indicated that he was available, allowing Hunt to respond according to his wishes. Gay men easily read between the lines: Hunt was cruising the beach Sandow was drumming up trade and knew he’d caught Hunt’s eye. As I apologized in passing him he stopped to compliment me upon what he was pleased to term my ‘perfect physique and beauty of form.’ That casual critic proved to be none other than Aubrey Hunt, the famous artist, with whom I afterwards became on terms of close friendship, and to whom I had the pleasure of posing in the character of a Roman gladiator.” Much later he would claim (in an article in Strand magazine, March 1910) that he’d been swimming in the ocean when he noticed that “I had become the particular attraction for a gentleman sauntering by. Sandow left Brussels for Venice in 1888 and paid a visit to the Lido, a well-known cruising area for gay men. Befriended by Professor Attila (Louis Durlacher), a famous local strongman and founder of his own bodybuilding school, San-dow became Attila’s star pupil, and for the next year, he diligently chiseled his body into a piece of art, one rivaling the classical statues that he admired. To make ends meet, he modeled nude for established and up-and-coming artists, some of whom paid for more than his ability to stand still (Fig. In early 1887, he found himself stranded and jobless in Brussels.
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Just a few years earlier, in 1885, Sandow left his home in Prussia at age eighteen to avoid the military draft, touring the Continent with circuses, taking part in wrestling matches, and giving exhibits of strength to make a living.
Little remembered today, Sandow was the father of modern bodybuilding-and, for a short time at least, he was open about his sexuality: when he began his rise to international stardom in Chicago’s Loop in 1893, he arrived with his boyfriend in tow. He was internationally known as the apotheosis of male beauty and the most perfectly formed man on the planet. Eugen Sandow was, for a short time, an exception to the rule. They’ve used various strategies, such as marriage to a woman, to camouflage their sexual activities and to discourage gossip. THE ANNALS of gay history are littered with examples of men in the public eye who have successfully hidden their gay lives from view.