Comparison 6: The New Naked Man, with Paul Cadmus
Paul Cadmus
Male Nude (1979)
Crayon on toned paper (unknown dimensions)
(Unknown current location)
At top we have a male nude that is not only vulnerable but sensually so, a combo rarely seen in most of Western art1. It doesn't take much to see the difference2, and a picture like this is almost shocking in how we've seen so many pictures like it and yet so extremely few.
As a final note on Crespi's Cupid and Psyche, I would point out that part of what makes it visually surprising is its inclusion of a likewise vulnerable, sensual male nude. The idea of a man who is being seen in a sexual way, and doesn't *want* to be seen, is pretty critical to this moment in the Cupid and Psyche story, and Crespi leans into it with his depiction of Cupid (note the emphasis on the [shapely] legs/haunches, and the light curving up over the lower abdomen). Again, this approach makes the picture stand out a bit visually from many of the other Cupid/Psyche variations, and also helps to ground the emotional realism of the interaction between the two figures.
NOTES:
1. This may have a lot to do with women systematically not being allowed to train or display for centuries (though many did anyway), and homosexuality being, shall we say, frowned upon (though again, MANY male artists of the not-straight varieties were in the mix regardless — for example, about 1/3 of the Italian Renaissance). It's also fair to say that while there are quite a few more pictures from the non-straight-male perspective than you might think throughout art history, they've often been given 'alternative' explanations or been deemed 'less important' for the canon, so go figure.
2. Notice how Cadmus' drawing doesn't actually show erogenous zones...so why does it come across as 'sexier' and more 'vulnerable' than many works that don't hide anything on the male figure? A lot of it seems to come down to the handling of the pencil (see the soft shading, and the delicate lines at the outline of the subject that thicken at particular turns of the body), the nature of the pose, and especially the sense we get that this subject may not know he's being looked at (or is at least not 'offering himself' to the viewer directly).