Gay Masterpieces In the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Founded in the Hague in 1798, moved to the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in 1808, the Rijksmuseum then moved to its present building in 1885. In the Dutch language Rijks means belonging to the state and the national art collection reflects the tastes of Netherland's population. Included in the museum's vast assortment of art and precious objects from around the world are many works with themes that are undeniably gay, showing Dutch open minded and accepting attitudes. The museum displays 8,000 objects from a total collection of one million art works created between the years 1200 and 2000. It is located in Museum Squire close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Concertgebouw, the Rijksmuseum welcomes 2.5 million visitors per year. 

The display of gay art begins even before you enter the lobby. A group of cast lead sculptures by Francesco Righetti (1749-1819) an artist from Rome who created these charming works in the 1780s are near life-size castings themed after the original marbles of Greek and Roman mythology.

Fig.1  The God Zeus in the form of an eagle carried off the cute young Ganymede.

Legendary Beauty and Grace

The Eagle and Ganymede is a sculpture of the legendary sexy boy who inflamed the passions of the god Zeus. Ganymede was a young prince with legendary beauty and grace. Zeus was so enraptured by his attractions that he turned himself into an eagle and carried the boy off to Mount Olympus, there to ravish him at his leisure. The myth has Ganymede serving as the god's cup bearer, a task he usually performed naked as shown in this sculpture. The young prince's perfect body and handsome face are relaxed, caressing the eagle and basking in Zeus' lustful gaze, the ideal twink, eager to please his lover man. This myth is a common subject in art, depicting the contrast between the tender young Ganymede and the powerful eagle, Zeus.

Fig.2  Ampelo was the God of Wine's boy toy.

Anally Pleasured Himself

Bacchus and Ampelos shows the god of wine and fun with his boy toy. Bacchus had a rich gay sexual history and he fell into an irresistible lust for Ampelos, a cute young half-satyr, the son of a nymph and a satyr. Bacchus was just beginning to enjoy the charms of Ampelos when the satyr died, recklessly falling from a high branch while picking fruit. The grieving god transformed him into a grapevine and made wine from his blood so that he might drink his charms ever after. The wine chalice in Ampelos's hand refers to this. Bacchus is the god's Roman name but the Greeks knew him as Dionysos whose gay sex life was the subject of another myth. Polymnos, one of Dionysos' lovers died suddenly and so the god planted a tree near his grave then made a dildo from it and anally pleasured himself with it. Francesco Righetti has depicted Bacchus as much larger than Ampelos. Rather than meaning Ampelos is a child the difference in scale represents the vastness of the god's powers, in a symbolic representation of hierarchal importance.

Fig.3  The God of Love is a tender and fetching sight.

Cupid

Cupid Stringing his Bow is another of Righetti's cast statues. Cupid was the Roman god of desire, eroticism, lust and attraction, the son of the goddess of love Venus. The Greeks called him Eros. Those pierced by his arrow would fall in love with Cupid's suggested person. Francesco Righetti presents him as a beautiful youth on the cusp of manhood preparing his bow to pierce the heart of his next chosen mortal. Though the god of love is not particularly associated with gay love this statue suggests his sensual essence.

Become a Premium member and enjoy the complete tour including many other gay art highlights housed in the Rijksmuseum like The Goddess of the Hunt with her pretty girlfriend, a shunga folding screen featuring a young male prostitute (wakashu), an impressive mural depicting charming naked lads, the homosexual secrets of a Dutch king and and his crotch sniffing dog, revealing the lesbian undertones in Johannes Vermeer's The Milkmaid,, a 200-year-old condom, and MUCH more...

Click HERE for the homoerotic masterpieces in the Prado Museum in Madrid

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