Thank heaven for little boys.

In a 1999 painting he commissioned, Michael Jackson strikes the same pose as Michelangelo’s statue of David with rippling abs, bulging pecs and smooth, marble-white skin — surrounded by a bevy of male cherubs.

The work, by artist David Nordahl, is just one of hundreds of private portraits the Gloved One ordered up over the years that depict him in an idealized light. They were revealed last week in a book about Jackson’s life.

In the larger-than-life canvases, Jackson emerges as King Arthur, a superhero, even an angel — all drawn to his specifications.

“He thought it was great with a little ‘tongue-in-cheek’ flavor,” said Nordahl of the oil-on-canvas work “Michael.”

The artist painted hundreds of works for Jackson and reportedly earned $150,000 for the larger canvases. Jackson spent millions building up his private collection.

Nordahl made Jackson a Peter Pan-like figure in “The Storyteller” and added his sister Janet to the lower-left foreground in the shape of a fairy.

The paintings can be seen in “Michael Jackson Opus: The Ultimate Celebration of an Icon,” a 450-page tome published this week by Kraken Opus.