10 x Queering the Rijksmuseum

From the series 10 things...

Diversity in sexual preferences and gender identities cuts across all eras and cultures. Still, the heritage of the LHBTQI+ community is often overlooked. And so we present: 10 objects from the Rijksmuseum collection!

Apollo en Hyacinthus Apollo en Hyacinthus

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Love

In Classical Antiquity, ‘homosexuality’ didn’t exist as a concept. Simply put, amorous love could go in any direction. Here, the Greek god Apollo embraces his beloved Hyacinth, a beautiful Spartan prince.

Apollo en Hyacinthus

Jupiter, Disguised as Diana, Seducing the Nymph Callisto Jupiter, Disguised as Diana, Seducing the Nymph Callisto

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Lust

Jupiter, the Roman king of the gods, disguised himself as the goddess Diana to seduce the fair nymph Callisto. Diana and Callisto’s lesbian embrace was a popular scene in art.

Jupiter, Disguised as Diana, Seducing the Nymph Callisto Jacob de Wit (1695-1754), oil on canvas, 1727

Iphis in een jongeman veranderd Iphis in een jongeman veranderd

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Transformation

In his Metamorphoses, the Roman poet Ovid tells the story of Iphis, born a girl but raised as a boy. When Iphis falls in love with Ianthe, a woman, the goddess Isis changes Iphis into a man.

Iphis in een jongeman veranderd

Hermaphroditus as Caryatid Hermaphroditus as Caryatid

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Intersex icon

Intersex conditions were nothing new to the ancients. A good example is Hermaphroditus, the mythical child of the Greek god Hermes and goddess Aphrodite, who was both male and female.

Hermaphroditus as Caryatid Giulio Romano (1499–1546), pen and brush in brown and white on brown paper, c. 1520

Brugse monniken op de brandstapel, 1578 Brugse monniken op de brandstapel, 1578

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Grisly persecution

Nowhere in medieval western Europe was homosexuality as widely punished as in the Southern Netherlands. Men who committed the ‘sin’ of sodomy were publicly tortured and burned at the stake.

Brugse monniken op de brandstapel, 1578

Two Young Men in an Erotic Embrace Two Young Men in an Erotic Embrace

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Tolerance

Persian poetry celebrated both spiritual and sexual love between men. Miniatures illustrate this as well. This one from the 17th century shows two young men in a playful, sensual embrace.

Two Young Men in an Erotic Embrace

Borstbeeld van Koning Willem II als prins van Oranje, C. Bozet, 1826 Borstbeeld van Koning Willem II als prins van Oranje, C. Bozet, 1826

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King Bi

King Willem II of the Netherlands was married to Anna Paulowna but also had homosexual relationships. In 1848 he approved a constitutional amendment ceding some of his power to the people. The reason, in part, was blackmail.
Lesbisch ouderpaar bedankt de dominee na de doop van hun tweeling Lesbisch ouderpaar bedankt de dominee na de doop van hun tweeling

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Religion

The baptism of a lesbian couple’s twins in Rotterdam-Delfshaven in 1982 marked a first for the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. The women had to wait two years before the church agreed to the baptism.

Lesbisch ouderpaar bedankt de dominee na de doop van hun tweeling

Portret van Rob Portret van Rob

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Fetish

In the late 1980s, Nick Sinclair made a series of portraits of people in the Dutch art scene. Among them was Rob Meijer, founder of the fetish shop and gallery RoB Amsterdam, which also sold Tom of Finland’s iconic homoerotic work.

Portret van Rob

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Necklace

A face? Or a penis with a Prince Albert piercing? This suggestive necklace taps into clichés about the homosexual world and pricks the imagination. The owner, Marjan Unger, loved the perplexed stares it drew.

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Girl in a White Kimono Girl in a White Kimono

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