In which The Gay Recluse files a special investigative report.

Recently Reader Lloyd put us on notice about the existence of an entire army of hot gay statues gracing the colonnade at Union Station in Washington, DC. Which ok is awesome, but his note also contained a scandalous rumor, which we reproduce in full:

I was told about the statuary in Union Station by a friend in San Diego, now 65, who attended seminary in Washington, DC, as a youth. Floods of seminarians used to go to Union Station to view the statues before the shields were installed. The statues, all similar, ring the second level of the atrium-like entrance lobby, maybe 25 to 40, and are over life-size. They all hold shields which cover their bodies from feet to chest level. Once when waiting for a train, I tried to check them out, but access to the gallery behind them was not possible.

We wondered if this could be true, and found some pix on Flickr of the statues in question:

Hey, who are those hot guys on top of those columns? (Photo by mattherbison on Flickr)

Whoas! This guy’s pretty hot. Definitely gay, too.
(Photo by jcolman on Flickr)

Pretty smokin, frankly. (Photo by jcolman on Flickr)

Ok then, so there’s like a hundred of these smokin’ Romans milling around, but srsly, what’s up with the shields? According to one DC art blog, the shields were added after a public outcry in 1907, when the station was opened. Here’s the full story:

Apparently when the sculptor, Augustus Saint Gaudens — who was a pretty popular public art and monument sculptor at the turn of the century — received the commission for the centurions, he asked if he was to make the Roman soldiers historically accurate.

He was told yes.

When Saint Gaudens delivered the models for the sculptures, Washingtonians on the arts panel were a little shocked to discover that some of the centurion maquettes were fully nude in uncircumsized splendor for all to see.

And so a hundred years ago Saint Gaudens was told to cover them up. In the arguments that I am sure followed, the solution came in the form of shields (which to me look historically inaccurate by the way), which would cover the Italians’ willies. They remain naked beneath them.

Really!? True or apocryphal? So far the only photograph we could find even hinting at this most tantalizing state of affairs is this one:

These guys are srsly hot, but the question remains: why the shields? (Photo by jcolman on Flickr.)

We want to extend a big thanks to Lloyd who turned us on to what conceivably could go down as the biggest scandal in the history of hot gay statues! That said, we are left with important questions: Will some kind reader in DC send us an even hotter pic of one of these centurions (and what hides behind the shields)? And if it turns out to be true, will President-elect Obama finally restore these hot gay statues to their intended glory? There can be no doubt that the world is holding its collective breath…

The Hot Gay Statue round-up:

• Rules and Guidelines
• Dan Savage Endorsement
• Washington Heights (New York City)
• Washington, DC
• The London Eye Clarifies an Important Issue
• Florence (Italy)
• The Park Avenue Amory (Upper East Side/NYC)
• Murray Hill (New York City)
• Madrid (Spain)
• Los Angeles
• Philadelphia
• The London Eye: “In Your Face”
• The J-Man Inspires
• George Washington
• Georgia (Republic of)
• New Orleans
• Columbus Circle (New York City)
• Two Davids (Florence)
• Franco Harris Statue (Pittsburgh)
• London Firefighters and Other Heroes
• Columbus Circle Mall (New York City)
• Miami
• Paris
• Grand Central Station (New York City)
• Albany, New York
• Chicago
• Albany, New York (Hot Gay Statute)
• The Metropolitan Museum (New York City)
• University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
• More Getty Villa (Los Angeles)