# "Il Femminiello"

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d/il-femminiello-r4d559cedb919d7>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [BONITO, Giuseppe](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d>)
- Date: 1701-1750
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 77 x 63 cm

## Commentary

This painting is a rare, 18th-century depiction of a femminiello \(cross dressed male\), capturing a glimpse of a fascinating subculture that is entrenched in Neapolitan history. These men were usually the youngest child of impoverished families, and would be brought up as a femminiello and dressed as women from a young age. They were met with good humour rather than derision and were accepted almost as a third sex. In Naples, still today, the tradition of the femminiello remains strong.

## Related artworks

- [Immaculate Conception](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d/immaculate-conception-r61f780558fe474>)
- [Portrait of a Gentleman](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d/portrait-of-a-gentleman-r027106f03621fd>)
- [Portrait of the Composer Niccolò Jommelli](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d/portrait-of-the-composer-niccol-jommelli-r7ec98a6e5b7664>)
- [The Repose of the Huntsmen](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bonito-giuseppe-r61fe797d05350d/the-repose-of-the-huntsmen-r4a1c55eeb1c164>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)