A Brief History of Erotic Art
by Wendy Joy
The history of erotic art includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, dramatic arts, music and writings that show scenes of a sexual nature throughout time. They have been created by nearly every civilisation, ancient and modern.
Among the oldest surviving examples of erotic depictions are Paleolithic cave paintings and carvings depicting genitalia. Recently discovered cave art in England, thought to be more than 12,000 years old, includes some symbols that may be stylized versions of female genitalia. Since there is no indication that these were made for erotic stimulation, it is far more likely that such images held a spiritual significance and were connected with fertility rituals.
The Ancient Greeks often painted sexual scenes on their ceramics many of them famous for being some of the earliest depictions of same-sex relations and pederasty. Greek art often portrays sexual activity, but it is impossible to distinguish between what to them was illegal or immoral since the ancient Greeks did not have a concept of pornography. Their art simply reflects scenes from daily life, some more sexual than others.
When large-scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shocking the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire. They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of sexuality, and attempted to hide them away from everyone but upper class scholars. It was, however, the Victorian era which ultimately scripted the current definition of erotica – the use of writing and pictures to arouse sexual desire.
There has been a long tradition of erotic painting in Japan, China, India, and Persia. In Eastern civilizations copious quantities of art celebrating the human faculty of love have been historically produced. The works depict love between men and women as well as same-sex love. One of the most famous ancient sex manuals was the Kama Sutra.
It was not until the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg that sexually explicit images entered into mass circulation in the western world. Before that time, erotic images, being handmade and expensive, were limited to upper class males who deliberately kept them away from the labouring class, fearing the effect such things would have on the animal lust of the uneducated.
In more recent times, erotic depictions have gone from being a luxury item for the few to a propaganda tool for some and now an everyday commodity for many. As the technology of communication has changed, each new modern technique (photography, motion pictures and computers) has been utilized to display and disseminate erotic depictions.
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