This PhD project charts the transformation of the artistic male nude in fin-de-siècle Belgium, in light of the changing views of masculinity and male sociability which are often said to have precipitated a 'crisis of masculinity'. It focuses on works by the artists Jean Delville, Jef Lambeaux, Charles Van der Stappen and Arsène Matton. Striving to build a bridge between art history and - historically anchored - men's and queer studies, the PhD 'thickly' describes three case studies that highlight health, sexuality and race respectively. The PhD project thus stands to expand our current knowledge of nineteenth-century Belgian art by offering insight into the dynamics of masculinity which it colored and was colored by, but which often remain historiographically unmarked.