Erotica Through the Ages

The dictionary describes the erotic as pertaining to, arousing or satisfying sexual desires. My idea of erotic, as referring to art, is slightly different. The erotic exists in art, thought and behaviour and to all it is subjective.

To me there are three classifications of the body in art and history. First the nude, which has been used in statues, wall decoration and painting throughout history to represent beauty, strength, the nobility of the human essence and often in representations of religious purity. Erotic images can be clothed or unclothed and display a romantic and sensuous image aligned to love and desire. The erotic tends to show intent on the part of the subject to entice or display in an attracting manner. The last is the pornographic, which is simply meant to arouse basic stimulation or is at least a crude representation of sexual acts. The nude is shown on the page on History's Nude under the Art section on this web site, but here we have images of the more erotic moments of art. Perhaps it is a fine, subjective line, but the difference is clear to me. In my photography scattered throughout my sites I believe my overriding aim is the straightforward nude, the body or body parts used as a pattern of light and shade. I have tried to represent the simple beauty of the body without being coy, without the look of temptation and without crudity. Some have said it is erotic, but by my definition that would have led to different poses, a different tilt of the head, a more forward and provocative positioning of the hips and certainly a different or more enticing expression of the face. Pornography, although I have no objection to it, would  generally be tasteless, blatant and arousing and that should not be seen here except possibly for some minor ancient representations to show that it has existed in different cultures through the ages and is not just a phenomenon of the decadent late twentieth / twenty first centuries. The sexual act itself is not necessarily pornographic as it is an element of both love and or procreation and can be admired as such, although rarely are images seen that possess the elements of beauty, love, affection and intimacy and come under my subjective idea of what is tasteful.

Egypt

There appears to have been little erotic art in the ancient world of the Egyptians. However as most of the surviving images are from protected tombs or eternal stone temples it may be difficult to know what existed in the private rooms of the now lost mud brick dwellings and what graced the walls of common use buildings. What has survived is art that has strict religious significance that was essential to sustain the pharaoh, truth (Maat) and the nation and as such could vary little from the doctrines of faith and the role of the gods in the continuance of creation ( such as Amun the creator and Geb the earth). Often there was a procreative element necessary to maintain the fertility of the Nile Valley, as seen by the erect phallus of the god Min, but straight forward eroticism is rare except for a papyrus discovered at the artisans village of Deir el Medina, adjacent to the Valley of the Kings, and preserved in the Turin Museum (right) which appears to be a satire on the state of society in the Ramesside period. This displayed a number of blasphemous or social commentary sexual acts and some described it as pornographic and it had been hidden away for many years. There are however in other sources many examples of more restrained intimacy, particularly in the Armana period but also later shown in the temple of Ramses III (left).

Sumerians

In the Babylonian 'Epic of Gilgamesh', the oldest book known to man ( around 4700 years old), are seen erotic sentiments.

"Gilgamesh bathed himself and cleaned his hair, as beautiful as it was long. He cast off bloodied robes and put on his favorite gown, secured the cincture and stood royal. Then Gilgamesh put on his crown. Ishtar looked up at Gilgamesh's handsome pride. "Come to me," she whispered. "Come to me and be my groom. Let me taste all parts of you, treat you as husband, be treated as your wife…. Come to my home, most sweetly scented of all places, where holy faces wash your feet with tears as do the priests and priestesses of gods like Anu. "

Extracts from ancient Sumerian love poems

Greece and Rome

A little later the Greeks perfected the image of the nude, but it seems most notably to be divided between the straight image of great beauty, nobility and strength as we see so often in the immortal public statues from the period and the more basic sexual images depicted on the vases from the home that survive from that time. The more romantic and sensuous images of Ancient Greece that we envisage are often drawn from art from the middle of the last millennium. Oozing with eroticism the gods and heroes of Greece and Rome (Apollo left below and Dionysus right below) have been fertile inspiration for the imagination of the artist from the Renaissance to today. The flesh and curves of the languid bodies draped over the landscape or across each other show a sensuality far beyond the description in the literature from which they are drawn.

The East

Japanese Samurai shudo (the way of the youth) had its beginnings in the 1200’s, however the  history of male love in Japan predated  the samurai period. Written tales exist from the Heian (Peace and Tranquility) period (794-1185), and the founding of the imperial capital at Kyoto  The "Tale of Genji” from this time contains one of the first known allusions to male love, in which a rejected suitor turns his attentions to his lover's younger brother.

"Well, you at least must not abandon me. Genji pulled the boy down besides him. The boy was delighted, such were Genji’s youthful charms. Genji for his part, or so one is informed, found the boy more attractive than his chilly sister."

Modern Times

In the nineteenth century, the glimpse of a woman's ankle was said to excite the passions of a man in such restricted times. Unashamed eroticism in art went underground or at least found public criticism, but the resurgence of secret erotica / pornography was brought about with the development of photography. Today we see little in western art or cinema that I would call truly erotic. We see much that is harsh and lacking in gentle feeling. We do however see schmaltz that is an oversweet view of unlikely intimacy with the heavy hand of the censor in evidence (television seems to be populated with so many who can have sex fully clothed or in underwear). The grace and beauty that I believe should go hand in hand with eroticism may occasionally be evident in cinema from Asia or the old Eastern Block, but cynically I see much that is drawn from the banal, the ugly and the dominating harsh parts of our personalities with a fear of eroticism as I define it. Sensuality is too often aligned with manipulation, temptation for greed and personal gain and removed from the gentler approach of seduction for giving pleasure.

"Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love; love recompenses the adorers." -Kahlil Gibran,

Updated April 23, 2007