IntroductionThijs Dekeukeleire, Marjan Sterckx, Henk de SmaeleBonds, bounds, and beyondDalou’s monument to fraternity, and homosociality in nineteenth-century artThijs Dekeukeleire, Henk de SmaelePart I: Familial bonds: Mediating masculine intimacy“Les Stevens!”Masculine bonds in a nineteenth-century artistic familyTom VerschaffelBrothers-in-law of the brushThe domestic dramas of Edouard Vuillard and Ker-Xavier RousselRachel SloanThe prodigal son revisitedMale bodies and bonds in two fin de siecle sculptures by Constantin Meunier and George MinneMarjan SterckxPart II: Coercive bonds: Disciplining the male bodyAlliances of virtueHungarian (self-)Reformers and their (self-)representation at the Diet in Pressburg (1825–1827)Eva BicskeiBazille, painter-ZouaveFriendship and duty at the dawn of the Franco-Prussian WarMary ManningUndressing the armyHygiene and hierarchies in Eugene Chaperon’s The Shower in the Regiment (1887)Sean KramerPart III: Covert bonds: Queering the nineteenth-century manRaphael, Jonah, and AntinoüsProblems of male beauty and sexuality on the grand tourCrawford Alexander Mann IIIMystical manhoodWhirling dervishes in the Orientalist imaginaryBrigid M. BoyleMen and models of the cityEugene Jansson’s nudesPatrik SteornPart IV: Forged bonds: Competing for each other’s attentionDressing the partMale bonding “on the motif ” in nineteenth-century FranceAnthea CallenEverybody’s darlingLoie Fuller in service of male homosocial avant-garde identityThomas MoserThe struggle is realThe wrestling groups of the antagonist sculptors Lambeaux and Van der StappenThijs DekeukeleireMasculinities in nineteenth-century art through the lens of gender and queer historyMale bonds were omnipresent in nineteenth-century European artistic scenes, impacting the creation, presentation, and reception of art in decisive ways. Men’s lives and careers bore the marks of their relations with other men. Yet, such male bonds are seldom acknowledged for what they are: gendered and historically determined social constructs. This volume shines a critical light on male homosociality in the arts of the long nineteenth century by combining art history with the insights of gender and queer history. From this interdisciplinary perspective, the case studies presented in this volume examine men’s relationships in a variety of contexts, which range from the Hungarian Reform Age to the Belgian fin de siècle. As a whole, the book offers a historicizing survey of the male bonds that underpinned nineteenth-century art and a thought-provoking reflection on its theoretical and methodological implications.Male bonds were omnipresent in nineteenth-century European artistic scenes, impacting the creation, presentation, and reception of art in decisive ways. Men’s lives and careers bore the marks of their relations with other men. Yet, such male bonds are seldom acknowledged for what they are: gendered and historically determined social constructs. This volume shines a critical light on male homosociality in the arts of the long nineteenth century by combining art history with the insights of gender and queer history. From this interdisciplinary perspective, the case studies presented in this volume examine men’s relationships in a variety of contexts, which range from the Hungarian Reform Age to the Belgian fin de siècle. As a whole, the book offers a historicizing survey of the male bonds that underpinned nineteenth-century art and a thought-provoking reflection on its theoretical and methodological implications.