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Classicism is an aesthetic inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art, where the European homosexual imagery has its origin. Homoerotic Classicism harks back to the sources of Western civilisation, art, erotic, and democracy. The ancient mythology offers a multitude of diverse models of love, sex, and identity. In Classical and Classicistic art, the sensuous, idealistic nude was the gist of homoerotic art affirming the nude male body and civic virtues. The tradition was alive both in ancient Greece and Rome, and in the Enlightenment. In the 18th century, the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann revived the sublime erotic and political quality of the male nude, as the Enlightenment blended Classicist art with ideas of the revolution. Classicism became the style of the French Revolution, which decriminalised homosexuality. The Classical male nude is thus a symbol of beauty and tradition, as well as democracy and homosexuality; therefore, it is also a gay style in contemporary art.
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