(Underwear models doing their thing, seductively. Plus Michelangelo’s David and a naked Venus by Bouguereau. So not to everyone’s taste, but not over the line.)
Today’s Daily Jocks ad (for the Cellblock 13’s Cyclone 2.0 Singlet) reproduces poses of head and body from classical Greek sculpture, poses that previously appeared on this blog in another Daily Jocks ad, in my 6/20/20 posting “Ephebe with a big package” — the big package being, in both cases, the model’s genitals, covered but also ostentatiously on display.
Today’s ad:
(2) [ad copy:] This singlet is made of luxuriously smooth Nylon/Spandex fabric with great stretch and recovery, with an extra-soft feel on the inside for comfort.
On the head pose: the model is looking downward, to his left. The head pose of the Praxiteles Ephebe of Marathon / Marathon Boy.
On the model’s stance: the model is standing with his weight on one foot (in this case his left); note his other, right, knee slightly raised. This is the contrapposto body stance of ancient Greek sculptures and much visual art since. Discussion below.
Last year’s ad:
(3) Package-display joggers this time
Again the model is looking down and to his left. And again standing with his weight on one foot, in this case his right; note his other, left, knee slightly raised.
From that earlier posting:
Then, about the model [above]: his head is a tribute to young masculine beauty in Greek terms, his groin a tribute to young masculine desirability in modern gay terms.
Contrapposto. From Wikipedia:
Contrapposto … is an Italian term that means “counterpoise”. It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the axial plane [and the opposite knee will be raised somewhat].
First appearing in Ancient Greece in the early 5th century BCE, contrapposto is considered a crucial development in the history of Ancient Greek art (and, by extension, Western art), as it marks the first time in Western art that the human body is used to express a psychological disposition [of relaxation]. The style was further developed and popularized by sculptors in the Hellenistic and Imperial Roman periods, fell out of use in the Middle Ages, and was later revived during the Renaissance. Michaelangelo’s statue of David, one of the most iconic sculptures in the world,
(#4)
is a famous example of contrapposto.
Contrapposto (weight on the right leg, left knee raised) but without the Praxiteles head pose; David is looking to his left, but upwards. As for his package, it’s not at all conspicuous, and wasn’t meant to be, but a great many visitors to the original in Florence apparently consider it to be the major draw.
Not just men. Among the illustrations in my 3/11/18 posting “Annals of shirtlessness: French neo-classicism”:
(#5) Bouguereau’s Birth of Venus, with the Praxiteles head pose and the contrapposto stance (weight on the left foot, right knee raised).
The raw, crude masculinity is supplied by the hairy centaurs in the painting.