Armpit Farters

So, this isn’t going to be about making that fart sound with your hand in your armpit. I wanted to get that out of the way in case you were expecting something along the lines of Poop or Poop Partnership, where I explain how a little air pocket forms, and your hand and armpit act a bit like a trumpet, using that trapped air to make a little toot.

The armpit skin at the edges kind of flaps, like your lips kinda buzz when you play the trumpet. Little bits of air escape at a time, and that gives you that buzzing sound.

Nah, that’s not where we’re going today. Instead, we’re asking the question: why did everyone do this sort of armpit-farter pose in old paintings? I’m talking about Europe and the Americas, predominantly, from 1750 through about 1850.

Okay, maybe Napoleon isn’t going in there to make a fart sound under his armpit, but how about our boy George, here? Isn’t he lifting up his arm so he can get under there, to show his displeasure for Parliament?

Okay, maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but that’s what my brain does.

It turns out that this style of posing has a name: hand-in-waistcoat. Nobody can credibly suggest that these historians are bad at naming things!

Still: why? Why would powerful men decide to pose for paintings with their hand in their waistcoat? My brain insists this pose looks really lazy, almost disrespectful. If nothing else, it seems curiously random.

For one thing, Napoleon and George look very chill in these paintings. They seem to be fairly confident and relaxed, not panicked or overly rigid. The placement of that hand-in-waistcoat really helps seal the deal, signaling self-restraint and cool-headedness above all else.

For another thing, where are hands even supposed to go?

I can also vouch that hands are very hard to paint. I can imagine a scenario where a “great man” and a painter are discussing pose strategy, and the painter suggests that incredibly fashionable hand-in-waistcoat pose. Why? Oh, no reason in particular.

Perhaps the social and power-projection reasons were responsible for this pose, but I bet artists not particularly wanting to paint sausage-fingers had a lot to do with why this fashion lasted so long.