Naturalistic pornography or posed nudes? An innocent suggestion or ... a four-person orgy? Check what the erotic art of the 18th century really looked like. And how much art was actually in it.
1. Francois Boucher, The Naked Courtesan
The eighteenth century - until the great French Revolution, which radically changed customs - was a hedonistic period. The artists no longer had to search for pretexts in the Bible and mythology that would justify representations of nudity. Now they could boldly enter the boudoirs…
2. Louis-Marin Bonnet, The Fun Interrupted
Libertys liked to collect bold, often even pornographic prints. One of the most popular graphic artists in these circles was the Parisian Louis-Marin Bonnet, who made a large fortune from such works.
3. Johann Heinrich Füssli, Symplegma
Symplegma is a kind of composition, already known in ancient art:two or more figures, shown - in a very literal way - during a sexual act, merge into a coherent whole. Johann Heinrich Füssli, a Swiss draftsman and poet, liked this form very much.
4. Francois Boucher, Hercules and Omfale
François Boucher, the favorite painter of the Marquis de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, liked to portray the joyful, lush carnality. The Goncourt brothers wrote about this painter that "he is one of those who represent the taste of the century, express it, embody it and contain it".
5. Erotic scene. 18th-century French anonymous.
The eighteenth-century eroticism was not free from perversion. After all, these are the times of excesses of the Marquis de Sade, the author of brutal sadomasochistic books such as "One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom" or "Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue".
6. Francois Boucher The veil is raised
The Rococo woman was not supposed to be natural at all. The more powder and lipstick, the more fanciful the hairstyle and dress - the better. Moreover, there was no fashion for youth and girlhood, so women consciously put a lot of effort into trying to age themselves.
7. Louis-Marin Bonnet, Stolen Moment
Erotic scenes often took place in an idyllic landscape, and lovers performed in shepherd's costumes. This staffage was fashionable not only in France, but also in Poland. Princess Izabela Czartoryska invited lovers to "shepherd's huts" in her Powązki park.
8. Erotic scene. 18th-century French author
Throughout 18th-century Europe, it was considered that men could not be sent to Paris until they were 24 years old. It was too easy to corrupt here. Both willing society ladies and prostitutes were to be found everywhere.
9. Louis-Marin Bonnet, In the alcove
François Tiphaigne de la Roche, the French writer of the Age of Enlightenment, claimed that the source of love is the influence of the "sympathetic substance" emitted by people. This "delicate and invisible pair" is especially strong in young people.
10. Johann Heinrich Füssli, Close-up
Carlo Goldoni wrote in his 1787 memoirs on prostitution in Paris:“They say that enjoying pleasures is very expensive. This is wrong. I have less money than others, but I use it, have fun and I am satisfied ”. Well, Warsaw differed from the French capital in this respect. Casanova himself complained that he couldn't afford a mistress.