With Von Gloeden’s notations in blue wax pencil verso: “162”, most liking referring to the negative number of the print. With von Gloeden studio stamp verso: “W. von Gloden/Taoromina 1903/Sicilia/…” In overall very good condition, although the image depicts a crack in the glass plate.

Von Gloeden immigrated to the warm climates of Taormina, Sicilia in the last decades of the 19th Century. There he produced exquisite images of young men posed as ancient Greeks against the stunning Sicilian landscape. While his contemporaries produced nude male photographs for scientific and research purposes, von Gloeden was one of the first to use the new medium to pursue the nude male for pure artistry and pleasure. A visitor from the North, he somehow convinced the locals to pose nude for him outdoors and then sold the photos by mail order and on the streets to tourists. Despite the public nature of his activity, his motives were never questioned.