Dionysian Fantasies and Queer Subtext in Filippo de Pisis’ Male Nudes

Abstract

The Italian painter Filippo de Pisis (1896-1956) often used references to Dionysians and Arcadian subjects to emphasize the homoerotic connotations associated with the representation of the male body. Sometimes, de Pisis represents a Dionysian male nude immersed in nature, as in Bacchino (1928) or the striking lithographs illustrating Catullo’s Carmi. At other times, the animalistic dimension of the Dionysian world is transposed into the intimacy of the artist’s studio, as in Nudino sulla pelle di tigre (1931). This paper aims to shed new light on the homoerotic and self-reflexive dimension of these Arcadian fantasies the artist elaborated during a lifetime. I will investigate their connection with a well-established homoerotic visual culture that has been widespread since the late 19th century and the way they offered the painter a prolific and safe outlet for representing the eroticized male body in the Italian context of the early 20th century. It will thus be possible to address through an original perspective the queer dimension of de Pisis’ work, still too often overlooked by the artist’s historiography.

Keywords

• Italian twentieth-century art history
• Filippo de Pisis
• homoeroticism
• male nude
• Dionysian imagery