Thrust: A Spasmodic Pictorial History Of The Codpiece

Product Description A Laugh-Out-Loud Visual History Of The Strangest Piece Of MenS Clothing Ever Created: The Codpiece.The Codpiece Was Fashioned In The Middle Ages To Close A Revealing Gap Between Two Separate Pieces Of MenS Tights. By The Sixteenth Century, It Had Become An Upscale Must-Have Accessory. This Lighthearted, Illustrated Examination Of Its History Pulls In Writers From Rabelais To Shakespeare And Figures From Henry Viii To Alice Cooper. GloverS Witty And Entertaining Prose Reveals How Male Vanity Turned A Piece Of Cloth Into A Bulging And Absurd Representation Of Masculinity Itself. The Codpiece, Painted Again And Again By Masters Such As Titian, Holbein, Giorgione, And Bruegel, Became A Symbol Of Royalty, Debauchery, Virility, And Religious Seriousness-All In One.Centuries Of Male Self-Importance And Delusion Are On Display In This Highly Enjoyably New Title. GloverS Book Moves From Paintings To Contemporary Culture And Back Again As It Charts The Growing Popularity Of The Codpiece And Its Eventual Decline. The First History Of Its Kind, This Book Is A Must-Read For Art Historians, Anthropologists, Fashion Aficionados, And Readers Looking For A Good, Long Laugh. Review ...A Hilarious And Erudite Book -- Guy Trevay The New York Times[Michael Glover] Takes Us On A Marvellous Journey Through Portraits - Including Works By Titian, Holbein And Parmigianino - In Which The Codpiece Is A Protagonist. -- Ben Luke The Art Newspaper[The Codpiece] Had A Big Year: It Is The Subject Of A Slim New Treatise, The Color Of Artisanal Gatorade... -- Rachel Tashjian GqFrom Coy To Curly-Wurly, For A Brief Moment The Codpiece Was Inescapable, In Life And In Art... -- Staff The Daily TelegraphHard To Resist -- Staff The TabletGlover Looks For Clues In The Litany Of Codpieces Jutting From Renaissance Paintings, Leading A Perceptive Tour Of The Nether Regions. -- Dan Piepenbring The New Yorker About The Author Michael Glover Is A Sheffield-Born, Cambridge-Educated, London-Based Poet And Art Critic, And Poetry Editor Of The Tablet. He Has Written Regularly For Theindependent,The Times, Thefinancial Times, Thenew Statesman, Andthe Economist. He Has Also Been A London Correspondent Forartnews. His Latest Books Includelate Days (2018),Hypothetical May Morning (2018),Neo Rauch (2019),The Book Of Extremities (2019), Andgreat Works: Encounters With Art (2016).