a symbol of virility and political prowess ... to emphasize rather than to conceal of epic (if not priapic) proportions of luxury silk velvet, bejewelled or embroidered

2. a symbol of virility and political prowess ...
to emphasize rather than to conceal
of epic (if not priapic) proportions
of luxury silk velvet, bejewelled or embroidered

3. The Renaissance Codpiece

7. Henry VIII., the epitome of vigour and potency …
all eyes are drawn to his magnificent codpiece, which unequivocally equates power and sexual prowess

10. Hans Holbein the Younger, after
Hans Holbein le Jeune, après
Henry VIII
1537
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

12. the strategically placed dog to attract attention where it is needed …

15. Jakob Seisenegger
Portrait of Charles V with a Dog
Portrait de Charles Quint avec un
chien
1532
Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna

17. little Edward VI, heir to Henry VIII.
a great resemblance to that of his father, but the thing is much less impressive …
Edward VI died at the age of fifteen and probably did not have time to assert the same appetites as his
predecessor

19. Master John, Workshop, Atelier
King Edward VI
Édouard VI, Roi d'Angleterre et
d'Irlande
1547
National Portrait Gallery, London

20. and to admire …
other codpieces that the taste of the time wanted particularly prominent!

23. Agnolo Bronzino
Guidobaldo della Rovere
1531-1532
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti),
Florence

26. Anonymous
Prince Hercule-François, Duc
d'Alençon
Hercule-François, duc d'Alençon
1572
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C

29. Agnolo Bronzino
Lodovico Capponi
1550-1555
The Frick Collection, New York

32. Anthonis Mor
Portrait of Alessandro Farnese
1561
Meadows Museum, Southern
Methodist University, Dallas

35. Alonso Sánchez Coello
Infant Don Carlos of Spain
Charles d'Autriche
1564
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna

38. Parmigianino
Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di
San Secondo
1535-1538
Museo del Prado, Madrid

41. Petrus Dorisy
Konrad von Boyneburg im Harnisch
Konrad von Bemelberg,
Landsknechtführer en armure
1582
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien

44. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Workshop of
Lucas Cranach l'Ancien, Atelier de
Duke Heinrich the Devout
Le Duc Henri de Saxe et margrave de
Misnie
1526
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden,
Dresden

47. Steven van der Meulen, attributed
to, attribué à
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1er comte de
Leicester
1560
Yale Center for British Art at Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut

49. a fur-lined robe that reeks of status and wealth
and a spectacular and biologically realistic red codpiece

51. Giovanni Battista Moroni
Portrait of Antonio Navagero
1565
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

54. Giovanni Battista Moroni
A Soldier
Un soldat
1555-1559
Museo del Prado, Madrid

57. Francesco Beccaruzzi
A Ballplayer and His Page
Portrait d'un joueur avec page
1530
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

61. Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel l'Ancien
Three Soldiers
Les Trois Soldats
1568
Frick Collection, Manhattan,
New York City

62. and also ...
a celebration of vitality and fertility
Bruegel has particularly emphasized the codpieces worn by some of the men

63. Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel l'Ancien
Wedding Dance in the
Open Air
La Danse de la mariée en
plein air
1566
Institute of Arts, Detroit

66. olga_oes
The Renaissance Codpiece
images and text credit www.
Music Overwerk-Daybreak
created olga.e.
thanks for watching

67. Codpieces changed across time and place.
Such coveralls kept the genitals from being thumped by the “various daggers, purses, tools, whisks, pomanders, or
swords which Renaissance men hung from their belts.”
But there was a “functional link between the codpiece” and the sexually-transmitted syphilis epidemic that swept
through Europe, starting in 1494.
Treatments for this virulent outbreak included ointments made from arsenic, sulfur, black hellebore, pine resin, and a
whole galaxy of herbs, minerals, syrups, and decoctions.
One thing that did work was mercury—in fact, it would be used to fight syphilis until 1910. Topical application, in a
mixture with grease, necessitated “a practical artefact—a large, boxy penis container which would hold layers of
bandages in place, would keep the grease, or other drug stains from spreading to stylish” clothing. Such codpieces
could also contain the pus associated with the disease.
German mercenaries came up with this medicinal contraption by the 1510s. They were “the first sufferers of syphilis
and its prime carrier through Europe.” Fashionable males adopted it by the 1530s.
Soon enough, wearing a codpiece lost its association with the syphilitic:
When kings wore a new style of clothing,
it was soon emulated by all who could afford it…
A universal function of any clothing or adornment is communication of social and sexual status through varying
shapes, colors, materials texture and decoration, so of course the codpiece also fulfilled this function.
The Renaissance codpiece faded from fashion by the 1590s, but the concept did not entirely disappear. These were
worn, to “keep the clothing and bedding from becoming soiled when afflicted with gonorrhea.