Erotic art in Pompeii
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Erotic art in Pompeii was discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii after extensive excavations began in the 18th century. The city was found to be full of erotic art and pornographic frescoes, symbols, and inscriptions. Even many recovered household items had a sexual theme. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the sexual mores of the ancient Roman culture of the time were much more liberal than most present-day cultures.
A clash of cultures was the initial result when excavations started to reveal sexualised imagery and artifacts, and an unknown number of discoveries were hidden away again. For example, a wall fresco which depicted Priapus, the ancient god of sex and fertility, with his extremely enlarged penis, was covered with plaster and only rediscovered in 1998 due to rainfall Template:Ref. In 1819, when King Francis I of Naples visited the Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he decided to have it locked away in a secret cabinet, accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals". Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, it was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the sexual revolution) and was finally re-opened for viewing in 2000. Minors are only allowed entry to the once secret cabinet in the presence of a guardian or with written permission.
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Erotic art
As previously mentioned, some of the paintings and frescoes became immediately famous because they represented erotic, sometimes explicit, sexual scenes. One of the most curious buildings recovered was in fact a Lupanare (brothel), which had many erotic paintings and graffiti inside. The erotic paintings seem to present an idealised vision of sex at odds with the reality of the function of the lupanare. The Lupanare had 10 rooms (cubicula, 5 per floor), a balcony, and a latrina. It was one of the larger houses, perhaps the largest, but not the only brothel. The town seems to have been oriented to a warm consideration of sensual matters: on a wall of the Basilica (sort of a civil tribunal, thus frequented by many Roman tourists and travelers), an immortal inscription tells the foreigner, If anyone is looking for some tender love in this town, keep in mind that here all the girls are very friendly (loose translation). Also, in the Thermae suburbanae (near Porta Marina - [1]), the only known Roman artwork describing a sapphic (lesbian) scene was recently discovered. The function of these pictures is not yet clear: some authors say that they indicate that the services of prostitutes were available on the upper floor of the house and could perhaps be a sort of advertising, while others prefer the hypothesis that their only purpose was to decorate the walls with joyful scenes (as these were in Roman culture). The Termae were, however, used in common by males and females, although baths in other areas (even within Pompeii) were often segregated by sex. Collected below are high quality images of erotic frescoes, mosaics, statues and other objects from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Lower quality images (in terms of preservation) can be found on Erotic art in Pompeii (low quality). See also: Gallery of Pompeii and Herculaneum
Erotic images from Pompeii
 Wall Painting of Priapos, House of the Vetti |
The older version of the painting is from Schefold, Karl: Vergessenes Pompeji: Unveröffentlichte Bilder römischer Wanddekorationen in geschichtlicher Folge. München 1962. Schefold explains (p. 134) that the picture was locked away "out of prudishness" and was only opened on request. Also note the much more brilliant colors in this only slightly older version. Here is a retouched version of the younger, higher resolution image to use the same colors.
 Tile Mosaic, Satyr & Nymph, House of the Faun |
 Wall Painting, House of the Epigrams, Reign of Nero |
 Tile Mosaic, Pan & Hamadryad |
 Wall mural of Mercury |
 Marble Bas-Relief |
 Wall Mural |
 Mural of Venus |
The mural of Venus from Pompeii was never seen by Botticelli, the painter of The Birth of Venus, but may have been a Roman copy of the then famous painting by Apelles which Lucian mentioned. In classical antiquity, the sea shell was a metaphor for a woman's vulva.
Erotic objects from Pompeii
 Tripod |
 Marble Sculpture, House of the Vetti |
 Bronze sculpture, Priapus pouring |
 Pavonazzeto marble sculpture |
 Ornamental Bas-Relief |
 Terracotta bird bath |
 Ornamental brick |
 Carving featuring inscription "Hic Habitat Felicitas", or "Happiness Resides Here" |
 Bronze oil lamp |
 Decoration on marble sarcophagus |
Bronze wind chimes of "phallus-animals" were apparently common household items. Note the child on one of the wind chimes -- the large phallus was not seen as threatening.
Notes
- Template:NoteAs reported by the epd press agency in March, 1998.