The top 10 codpieces in art

Whether flamboyant and red or hard as steel, these symbols of virility and political prowess have always caused a flap in art. From Henry VIII's larger-than-life armour to Titian's phallic pomp, here are portraits of men dressed to impress

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This great portrait of a Renaissance military man throbs with masculinity. Francesco Maria I della Rovere exudes potency from his beard and his darkly glittering armour to his sword pommel and baton. He also displays it by wearing a chain-mail codpiece. And yet, his melancholy face betrays a world weariness that undercuts all this phallic pomp.

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