marble sculpture of the mythical hero, once stood at Rome’s Baths of Caracalla. The male nude is, of course, one of the oldest artistic fixations: The Riace bronzes, Greek sculptures cast around 450 B.C., depict naked, bearded warriors as exemplars of masculine strength and beauty “Farnese Hercules,” a third-century B.C.
“It’s important for me to capture likeness and not just a body,” he said. The 33-year-old MacConnell - boyish, equally fit - wore black jeans and a white T-shirt as he sketched on a letter-size sheet of paper with his blue ballpoint pen. “It’s liberating to be able to be comfortable in your body,” Williams said, barely moving his lips as he concentrated on holding still. LAST FALL, IN a tiny apartment in downtown New York, a 30-year-old gay physique model named Matthew Williams stood naked against a white backdrop in front of the gay artist John MacConnell.
