Classic

Throughout history, classical and religious subjects have been used by artists as a good excuse to fetishise the naked male body.

That's a commonplace observation but, if you doubt me, just do a quick Google search for St Sebastian and see how many nudes you get, all showing a cute boy writhing in agony/ecstasy.

Even the earliest depictions of St Sebastian seem to focus on a sense of corporeal physicality, and he's by no means alone to have found this fate (as proto-gay porn).

Some modern artists continue this trend, as here, in a brilliant Pierre et Gilles pastiche:

And there are other subjects than just St Sebastian -- Mercury/Hermes is often a favourite:

And let's finish with that modern phenomenon, the angel, now threatening vampires in the modern culture stakes as the West's most depicted fantasy cultural icons:

I say who cares? It's yet another welcome excuse to show hot models with barely any clothes on. What's not to like?

Classic

I posted this magnificent chap the other day:

And then I stumbled across another equally delightful classically-inspired image in a similar vein:

They remind me of Pasolini's great film Edipo Re -- glorious imagery.

But then, as you know, I like anything that reminds me of Classical sculpture:

And that takes us very neatly to our final connected pair which, although not obviously related to Classical sculpture still, for me, have a similar feel to them:

This is just exceptionally clever photography -- brilliant work.

The woad-painted chap is the same boy, incidentally, who appears in the jaw-dropping PS just below. Who'd have thought he was such a grower?

Ain't it grand

Recently you've been very good about not complaining that the dicks of the models featured on here are too tiny. So it's time to reward you with some massive mutant boys:

I am so used to seeing modestly sized winkies that these ones always make me assume there's some medically-related swelling going on...

Although on this next chap I have to confess everything does actually look as if it is healthy. Very, very healthy indeed, actually:

But then, you know, something like this comes along which is just, as far as I'm concerned, in your face boasting:

In fairness to him, he has much to boast about.

Let's end here before I start getting all wistful:

Or before you know it this blog will be like everywhere else on the net, infested with Giant Mutant Winkies.

PS: Blimey:

Erm... At first I thought that must have been photoshopped and then cropped back in as an enlargement but, er, now I'm just thinking, like, wow. Blimey.

Mapping the future?

The genius of graphic designer Henry Beck was to take the messy, sprawling reality of London's underground railway system...

... and turn it into an easy to follow diagram, making routes easy to plot for people who knew nothing about the geography of London (and also, incidentally, compressing all that wasted space in the outer suburbs while stretching it out in the central area, to make it less congested): 

So far so obvious. Beck's concept has attracted the attention of a lot of designers who try to improve it, and largely fail.

The latest attempt smashes one of the rules -- that lines should only be at angles of 45 and 90 degrees -- and allows 30 and 60 degree lines. This transforms the ability to portray geographical proximity (one of the biggest flaws of the current design, where some people find themselves making elaborate journeys between two stations apparently far apart, only to discover they are 50 metres away from each other):

Actually, this isn't a bad attempt. There is certainly some loss of simplicity and clarity, but there is also a great deal of improvement in spatial relating. It still feels uncomfortable to me (but then, after decades of living with Beck, his map is actually how I see the city). But it's very easy to use.

Generosity of heart

A trio of images of a Top Model (no cock shots here, though...):

It all starts conventionally enough, but then the shoot veers off into another direction altogether:

And, before you know it, we're climaxing here, in this strange place where genders blur and our original lusts become entangled in some extraordinary new Jungian world...

I love that sequence and I utterly adore the model. Despite the pubic shaving. In fact, I'd forgive him pretty much anything.

Pleasures

It was this model's solo work that first caught my eye:

A striking combo of masculine musculature and explosive hair...

But then I discovered his duo work with another model:

Some of it was utterly delightful -- charming and witty:

While some of it was just hot:

Let's end here, with a hugely evocative black and white study of my hotty lovely and, er, another hotty lovely:

Some people need do nothing more than just exist in order to bring joy and delight into the world.

Reflective

An utterly brilliant image that immediately captures the attention:

Inventive use of a mirror is always compelling, but this is staggeringly good work. It's also, of course, a brain teaser: how did he get that shot?

Geeky people get it straight away, but some of the rest of us struggle. It's only when we invert the image that it all becomes clear:

Somehow it loses much of its genius when you look at that. Best to stick to the first image.

One off

The other day I posted a black and white image from the same shoot, but I also find this one irresistible:

Beautifully atmospheric -- I almost feel as if I'm there, in that tension-filled room -- and it even effortlessly overcomes my normal antipathy to photos featuring men who are naked-except-for-their-socks. Brilliant work.

It's still all coming to an end

Time for an egg-timer update: yes, I've now used up no less than 54% of the photo allowance for this blog. Soon it will all be coming to an end.

Now, now: before you start wailing and sobbing, it's actually going at a much slower rate than in my last couple of blogs: I am kindly reducing the size of most of the images I post.

Still, there's no great difficulty in seeing the Freudian reasons behind your dread of the separation that must, eventually, come...

Best to put all that behind you, slap on a jaunty Genet-esque hat, and carry on as if nothing had happened:

Or you could just sleep it off.

I mean, it's not as if there's any great shortage of modestly-sized winkies on the web. If I can find all this lot at a drop of a hat, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to do it for yourself:

[Er... although he is completely magnificent, isn't he? What a winkie...]

Although sometimes even I get a bit proud of my detective skills...

Of course, it's much harder to find decent images of some of the world's more obscure trains (this fine-looking locomotive is a Romanian job, as it happens):

But let's end here, with my back metaphorically turned to you.

Come to think of it, I rather wish that was my back, actually...

OTT? I think not

I gasped with lust the second I saw this photo:

Imagine my surprise and delight when I unearthed a secret stash of the same fabulously sex chap:

Intriguingly, he is almost always photographed with his right shoulder further forward than his left.

Not content with this mystery remaining unsolved, I found a couple of other shots (not worth posting here, although useful in solving the mystery) which showed a rather overwhelming tattoo on the inside of his left forearm.

I don't care about that one jot. Just look at his body. Amazing (and, of course, he seems to have a pretty big tool, for those of you who like such things...).

Have I said yet how I am in love with this chap? Utterly and completely, he can have all my worldly possessions right now, in exchange for just a few moments to pleasure that body...

Tourist trail

A lot of visitors to London get confused and, when what they really want is Westminster Abbey, they find themselves at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral.

But all is not lost, because the cathedral is a pretty intriguing building. New-ish, obviously, but in a rather glorious Byzantine style.

It was started in 1895. The architect, John Bentley, wanted to build in a Gothic style but the Archbishop overruled him: Catholicism had only relatively recently been formally permitted in England (1829, in fact), and he didn't want anyone to accuse his church of trying to compete with Westminster Abbey.

He specified a Romanesque basilica, but was then persuaded by Bentley to go Byzantine. 

Although the fabric of the cathedral was completed in 1910 or thereabouts, the interior decor was not. It was planned to finish that over decades, giving subsequent generations a chance to add "their" mark to the cathedral. So, today, a glance upwards from the glistening marble of the lower walls reveals the dark, raw brickwork overhead.

But that marble is really something. I don't think any other church in England comes close for the variety and quality of the marble. It is quite extraordinary.

And there are side-chapels along each wall; some of those have been decorated, and here it is possible to get a feel for the richness envisaged for the finished cathedral.

While some of the mosaicists were more skilled than others, the overall effect is almost overwhelming.

And the detail on the best mosaics is amazing:

Fortunately, the cathedral was being built at the same time that brilliant sculptor Eric Gill was active. Having converted to Catholicism he was anxious to make a mark, and his stations of the cross are absolutely superb:

There is a danger that they are overshadowed by the sheer gaudy mass of the mosaic, though:

Close-up, some of this stuff is very fine indeed:

Each side chapel has a different design and feel, depending on the age when it was commissioned:

This one, for instance, features utterly amazing Art Nouveau woodwork:

Pevsner describes this as among the finest craftsmanship anywhere in Europe at this time.

Though he was clearly in love with it all: he wrote that "the interior is without doubt one of the most moving of any church in London", after quoting Norman Shaw's remark that it was "the finest church that has been built [in England] for centuries".

Those lost tourists probably don't realise how lucky they are.

PS: Apologies for the appalling quality of most of these images -- it is insanely dark inside the cathedral, though that does add to the rather splendid atmosphere.