Charles Ricketts and Charles Shannon as Medieval Saints

Edmund Dulac (1882 - 1953) - Tempera on Linen - 1920 This piece is made as an almost satirical approach to the Christian Church's view on homosexuality. The two men in this painting are portrayed similarly to that of monks in historical artwork of the church. The audience knows that the two men in this piece are homosexual, because of the peacock feather in the hand of the man on the right-hand side. It was used as a form of 'Quuer-coding', a secret language developed between queer people communicate that they were part of the community, without it being obvious to a viewer that isn't looking for the hint. This also further solidifies the meaning of this piece, and that within Christianity, Queer people had to hide their identities in order to be accepted, and got used to a life of hiding.