The most depraved scenes in the history of art

Do you think that pornography has appeared quite recently? And here it is not! The fantasy of our distant ancestors went far beyond the traditional heterosexual relationships: homosexual episodes, oral sex, threesome sex... But there were also more exotic manifestations of erotic art, depicting, for example, sex with animals. Even octopuses!

(Careful! There is a nude in the material)

The earliest examples of erotic art date back to prehistoric times. As soon as humanity appeared, it invented eroticism. Among the oldest examples of erotic art are Paleolithic rock paintings and figurines. For example, one of the oldest figurines from the group of "Paleolithic Venus" — "Venus from Hole Fels" - is at least 35 thousand years old.

Venus of Hole Fels

It is not known for sure what purpose these figurines were intended for, but hardly anyone will argue that the body of "Venus" is more than realistic.

Ancient Egypt is the birthplace of a sundial, a calendar, paper, ink and ... pornography. In fact, the ancient Egyptians, apparently, knew a lot about perversions.

Turin erotic papyrus, reconstruction

Men who give themselves a blowjob, papyrus, 1070-664 BC

Despite the fact that most of the people in Egypt were still not involved in incestuous relationships, the Egyptian gods did not shun them, and, imitating them, the rulers — pharaohs also willingly married their own sisters.

Limestone sculpture, erotic group, 332-283 BC

But as for virginity before the wedding, the Egyptians apparently did not care about it — such a morality was mainly practiced by the Romans.

Erotic scene between a man and a woman, 332 BC-337 AD.

The ancient Greeks were very consistent in their sexual preferences. It was the culture of Ancient Greece that showed us what homosexual relationships between men look like.

It is noteworthy that the wife, according to the ancient Greeks, served exclusively for childbirth, for pleasure they preferred young men (or prostitutes).

The older men were supposed to educate the young men-to instruct and take care of them, including teaching them the art of pleasure. At the same time, intimate relations between two adult men were considered obscene.

The ancient Greeks often depicted sex scenes on ceramic amphorae. Strictly speaking, they depicted scenes of everyday life on them: some of them were more erotic, some were less.

Pan copulates with a goat, Herculaneum, 1st century AD.

Many drawings with sexual scenes were found at the excavations of Roman buildings in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Two men and one woman make love, fresco, Pompeii, 79 BC

Leda and the Swan, Pompeii, 50-79 AD

Wine cup with participants of the pentathlon, 505-500 BC

Amphora with erotic subjects, ca. 510 BC

The most outspoken and sexual civilization of pre-Columbian South America was not the Aztecs or Incas at all, but the Moche culture, living in northern Peru from 100 to 800 AD.

Their representatives were skilled craftsmen. They were especially good at ceramics. About 500 ceramic products with sex scenes were found.

Most often, anal sex was depicted in the urine, despite the fact that vaginal sex was depicted on their products extremely rarely.

There was also a blowjob, but cunnilingus-never.

Most of the couples are men and women, while the genitals of the partners are depicted in all details.

Images of skeletons were also found, with which live women masturbate.

There is not an adult who has not heard anything about the Kama Sutra — an ancient Indian treatise dedicated to sensual bodily love.

Sexuality in the view of the ancient Hindus was an obligatory part of spiritual growth, inseparable from the mental sphere.

Of course, this was also reflected in their visual culture. The most famous candid statues reflecting human passion are the bas-reliefs from the" temple of love " of Khajuraho. Stone lovers do things that we never dreamed of.

In addition, their famous miniatures are considered classics of Indian erotic art.

A popular misconception says that with the advent of Christianity, sex ended. We hasten to please you: despite the fact that morality has really changed, people's sexual life has not become less diverse. However, frivolous drawings were not available to everyone.

The Book of Hours, France, XV century, Geneva Library

Erotic scenes were most often found in handwritten books, and only those who had enough money could enjoy them (and they cost a lot).

The Royal Bedroom, The Maciejewski Bible, Paris, ca. 1240

Most of the erotic miniatures are found in the margins of the horologues — such images, often not related to the text in any way, are called "marginals". Medieval scholars still argue whether they were needed for a warning — which should not be done — or just to delight the eyes of book owners.

Shunga, which means "spring drawings" — are erotic ukiyo-e engravings common in medieval Japan. The hieroglyph "spring" in this case was a euphemism for sexual relations.

The Dream of the fisherman's wife, Katsushika Hosukai, 1814

Unsigned canvas: Lesbians use a "tengu" mask as a dildo, Edo period

It is believed that the founders of the genre were illustrations in Chinese books. The paintings depicted sexual scandals at the imperial court and in monasteries, and the characters were usually courtiers and monks.

A couple in love, Isoda Korusai, 1767-1778

The government has repeatedly tried to ban xiong, but without success.

Baths in Hakone, Utagawa Kunisada, 1827

The printing of erotic images peaked in France, in the period from 1800 to 1900.

Playful images were most popular among tourists — they were sold as postcards, although, unlike postcards, they could not be sent to a friend by mail due to fairly strict rules regarding the distribution of pornography.

Many of these images were completely outlawed, so the authors of some of the erotic lithographs that have survived to this day are unknown.

However, many of them most likely belong to the artist Ashil Deveria.