est. 2012

[moisab]

[buddhabe]

Sacred Lotus and The Footprints

[nativephunk]

[bombayelectric]

[arjuna-vallabha]

Radha and Krishna, Folio from “Gita Govinda”, Manaku, Guler, c. 1730. 

India has had a long history of erotic art, dating back to the ancient and medieval periods.

In religious and secular contexts, from temple sculpture to book illustration to everyday objects, the images that come up reveal a society that was fairly open in its contemplation and representation of matters concerning sex, sexuality and sensuality.

In an age when violent censorship has clamped down on much of such depiction and expression, what lessons can the past teach us?

[rosieandthemoon]

Tableau de la Croix || 1651

[classicalcanvas]

The Daughters of Thespius (1853) by Gustave Moreau

[venustapolis]

Sixteen-Pointed Star (Anonymous, c. 1780)

[detailsofpaintings]

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Le Bain Maure (detail)

1880-85

[hildegardavon]

Erwin Speckter, 1806-1835

Psyche is carried to Mount Olympus, ca.1830/34, gouache, 57.3x44.3 cm (Copy after the Raphael fresco in "Loggia of Amor and Psyche" at Villa Farnesina, Rome)

Private Collection

[thefugitivesaint]

Dorothy Pulis Lathrop (1891-1980), ''The Young Folks: Stories of Wonder and Magic'', Vol. 2, 1948 (originally published in 1938) "Would you kiss me, princess?"

[clearpills]

[detailsofpaintings]

François-André Vincent, Alcibiade recevant les leçons de Socrate (detail)

1777

[detailsofpaintings]

Jules Joseph Lefebvre, Servant (detail)

1880

[detailsofpaintings]

Talbot Hughes, Echo

1900

[detailsofpaintings]

Attributed to Richard Peake the Elder, Catherine Carey, Countess of Nottingham

circa 1597

[clawmarks]

Die wichtigsten Webe-Ornamente - Friedrich Fischbach - 1902 - via Internet Archive

[enchantedbook]

'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' illustrated by Kay Nielsen, 1914.