Jacopo d’Andrea Saltarelli (born 1459) was an apprentice goldsmith and

male prostitute Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...

, sometimes described in modern literature as an artist's model, about whom nothing is known except the details of court records of several charges of prostitution, in one of which

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

was among the accused. On April 9, 1476, an anonymous denunciation was left in the ''tamburo'' (letter box) in the

Palazzo della Signoria A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

(town hall) accusing him of being "party to many wretched affairs and consents to please those persons who request such wickedness of him". The denunciation accused four people of engaging in

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...

with Saltarelli: Baccino, a tailor;

; Bartolomeo di Pasquino; and Leonardo Tornabuoni, a member of the aristocratic Tornabuoni family. Saltarelli's name was known to the authorities because another man had been convicted of sodomy with him earlier the same year.Crompton, p. 265 Charges against the five were dismissed on the condition that no further accusations appear in the ''tamburo''. The same accusation did in fact appear on June 7 but charges were again dismissed. The charges were dismissed because the accusations did not meet the legal requirement for prosecution: all accusations of sodomy had to be signed, but this one was not. (Such accusations could be made secretly, but not anonymously.) There is speculation that since the family of one of the accused, Leonardo Tornabuoni, was associated with

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal. A painting of Jacopo Saltarelli was then used to represent a caucasian version of Jesus Christ.Wittkower and Wittkower, pp. 170—71

Notes

References

* Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). ''A History of Celibacy''. Da Capo Press. . * Crompton, Louis (2006). ''Homosexuality and Civilization''. Harvard University Press. . * Gilbert, Creighton and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1995). ''Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals''. Penn State Press. . * Wittkower, Rudolph and Margaret Wittkower (2006). ''Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists : A Documented History from Antiquity to the French Revolution''. New York, New York Review of Books. . Medieval LGBT people Italian gay men Italian LGBT models Gay models 15th-century people from the Republic of Florence Italian male prostitutes 1459 births People prosecuted under anti-homosexuality laws Year of death unknown Leonardo da Vinci Models from Florence {{Sex-work-stub

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