Meisel and Flandrin

my brain jumped this evening from looking up Steven Meisel (photographer) featured recently in an article in Vogue (although it seems his work usually fills Vogue) - anyway, found a photo on art commerce site that reminded me for some reason of this painting:



which is one of my favorites.
I had the pleasure, in my blessed life, of spending a summer in Paris in college. I loved visiting the Louvre although I found its shear mass overwhelming and never did make it through the whole thing... but this painting really struck me for some reason... the beauty of the male nude no doubt *grin*

and one of Meisel's pieces has a man in similiar pose although he is surrounded by many others and so it really isn't a staging of this and it is questionable whether or not it is even a purposeful reference?