Bare Masculinity: Humor and Ambivalence in Gabriel Metsu’s Naked Self-Portrait

Few paintings seem as apt for a session entitled “Re-Assessing the Northern European Male Nude” as Gabriel Metsu’s Self-Portrait as a Hunter (1654-56) in which the artist depicts himself naked, an unprecedented choice in self-portraiture. Bathing in a stream provides the opportunity for nudity; the hunt permits the artist license to include many attributes of seventeenth-century Dutch masculinity. The overdetermination of these elements and their humorous treatment results in a kind of hilarious mockery (his audience would know that Metsu’s social status would preclude him from hunting privileges). Several pictorial and thematic moments contribute to Metsu’s theatrical performance. One concerns references to male sexuality and genitalia, some overt and others covert (note, for example, the two balls of fabric snugged around the barrel of the gun). Scale also plays into the burlesque: the musket is longer than the man; the man is too large for the architecture. This male nude colonizes the landscape in ways that the passive female nude cannot. Then there is the change in handling evident in the diminutive tawny wading figure—bearing Metsu’s features—broadly brushed and awkward in contrast to other finely detailed passages. Further is the odd detachment of the seated figure from its surround: the figure’s outline, a brown halo, separates it from the wall, giving it the impression of floating disconnection. Finally, I consider the ambivalence such overdetermination suggests, despite the figure’s apparent composure.