Eckersberg and His Male Models
model Carl Frørup
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853) grew up in southern Denmark,
and at the age of 19 enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art.
He was schooled in the neoclassical tradition, but soon expressed an interest in more realistic-looking figures.

In 1810 he was pushed into marriage, but a few days after his wedding, he left the country. (His wife finally got a divorce.)
He moved to Paris, where he lived with Jens Peter Møller,
and then to Rome, where he lived with renowned Danish painter Bertel Thorvaldsen:

He often found inspiration at the Copenhagen Naval Station,

where the sailors practiced swimming nude.

Eckersberg was married twice and fathered 10 children. No one can deny his heterosexualty. But no one can deny that the Father of Danish painting found inspiration in the male form.
When he was 54 years old, he painted Carl Frørup, Standing Male Model (1837). It was unusual for artists to include the names of their models in their titles. I wonder if Carl Frørup was something more.

don't hesitate to suck it to me with questions or suggestions / submissions.
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