Friday, October 6, 2023
12 pm | Campbell Hall 160
Professor Michael Lee, Department of Landscape Architecture
The Italian landscape has for centuries been a locus amoenus of male same-sex desire. Serving as an idealized setting for homoerotic visual representation and narratives of self-discovery in painting, photography, and film, it has equally been the backdrop for historical social practices that gave rise to these associations. From Renaissance villa gardens to coastal enclaves that attracted gay artists and writers at the turn of the 20th century, this project examines sites, texts, and art works linking homoeroticism with the landscapes of Italy.