I Modi

File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 011).jpg

These nine fragments cut from seven engravings<ref name="December 2004">Template:Cite journal</ref> are thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004" /> They are thought to come from a replacement set of engravings created for the images that were in I modi.<ref name="December 2004" /> Paper. British Museum, London. Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009">Template:Cite journal</ref>

I Modi (The Ways), also known as The Sixteen Pleasures or under the Latin title De omnibus Veneris Schematibus, is a famous erotic book of the Italian Renaissance that had engravings of sexual scenes.<ref name="December 2004"/> The engravings were created in a collaboration between Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi.<ref name="June 2009 page 117">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Walter Kendrick, The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture (1987:59)</ref> They were thought to have been created around 1524 to 1527.<ref name="June 2009 page 117"/><ref name=2013Turner>Template:Cite journal</ref>

There are now no known copies of the first two editions of I modi by Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi.<ref name="December 2004"/>

In around 1530<ref name="June 2009"/> Agostino Veneziano is thought to have created a replacement set of engravings for the engravings in I modi by Giulio and Marcantonio.<ref name="December 2004"/>

Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi edition (around 1524–1527)

The first edition of I Modi was created in a collaboration between Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi.<ref name="June 2009 page 117"/><ref name="Bette">Template:Cite book</ref>

One idea that is speculated is that Giulio drew the figures while Marcantonio designed the settings.<ref name="2017 Visible p149">Template:Cite book</ref>

Another idea is that this collaboration occurred when Giulio Romano was doing a series of erotic paintings as a commission for Federico II Gonzaga’s new Palazzo Te in Mantua and Marcantonio Raimondi based the engravings for I modi on these paintings.<ref name="Lawner 1998">Template:Cite book</ref>

It has also been speculated that the images in I modi may have been inspired by Ancient Roman spintria tokens<ref name=Bette/><ref name="2017 Visiblep39">Template:Cite book</ref> and it is speculated that Giulio Romano may have seen spintria tokens.<ref name=Bette/><ref name="2017 Visiblep39"/> It is also speculated erotic Ancient Roman sculptures and reliefs may have influenced images in I modi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Lawner 1998"/><ref name=Bette/><ref name="2017 Visible"/> A relief on the outside of an Ancient Roman sarcophagus shows a female Satyr guiding the erect penis of a Herm sculpture towards her vagina and it has been commented that the postures of the female Satyr and the herm have similarities to the figures in image 7 of the woodcut booklet.<ref name="Lawner 1998"/><ref name=Bette/><ref name="2017 Visible"/>

The engravings were published by Marcantonio in 1524, and led to his imprisonment by Pope Clement VII and the destruction of all copies of the engravings.

Giulio Romano did not become aware of the engravings by Marcantonio until the poet Pietro Aretino came to see his paintings. These are the paintings that Marcantonio is thought to have based his engravings on and Romano was still working on these paintings when Aretino came to visit. Romano was not prosecuted since—unlike Marcantonio—his images were not intended for public consumption, and he was not in the Papal States.

Aretino then composed sixteen explicit sonnets to accompany the engravings, and secured Marcantonio's release from prison.<ref>Sample quote: "both in your pussy and your behind, my cock will make me happy, and you happy and blissful"</ref>

I modi was then published a second time in 1527, now with the sonnets that have given them the traditional English title Aretino's Postures. It is thought that this is the first time erotic text and images were combined, though the papacy once more seized all the copies it could find. It is thought Marcantonio escaped prison on this second occasion, but the suppression on both occasions was comprehensive.

There are presently no remaining copies of the first or second edition of I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> The images that were in these two editions of I modi are thought to have been copied several times.<ref name="December 2004"/><ref name="2017 Visible">Template:Cite book</ref>

Agostino Veneziano copy (around 1530)

It is thought that Agostino Veneziano may have created a single replacement set of engravings for the images created by Giulio and Marcantonio in I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> There is one whole image as well as nine fragments cut from seven engravings that are in the British Museum, and it is thought that all of these images come from this replacement set of engravings by Agostino.<ref name="December 2004"/> These engravings by Agostino are dated to around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

There is an engraving of Leda and the Swan in the British Museum that is thought to be by Agostino Veneziano, and it is thought to have been created in around 1524 to 1527.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> It is speculated that this engraving has been based on an engraving from I modi by Giulio and Marcantonio.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> The engraving is the same size and format as the I modi engravings,<ref name="2017 Visible"/> and it is speculated that it may be based on a design by Giulio Romano.<ref name="SEPTEMBER 2007">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="2017 Visible"/>

It is thought that as well as Agostino Veneziano there were other people who contributed to the creation of this replacement set of engravings.<ref name="December 2004"/>

Copies of the Agostino Veneziano copy of I modi

Woodcut booklet copy (around 1555)

A possibly infringing<ref>A History of Erotic Literature, P.J. Kearney, Macmillan 1982.</ref> copy of I modi with crude illustrations created using woodcut relief printing is thought to copy the images of I modi that were in the Agostino Veneziano replacement copy of the work.<ref name="December 2004"/>

It is speculated that this woodcut booklet was created around 1555.<ref name="December 2004"/> The artist who created the woodcut images in the booklet is unknown.<ref name="December 2004"/> The booklet was discovered in the 1920s.<ref name="Lawner 1998"/><ref>It was formerly owned by the son of Toscanini and is now in a private collection. See; James Grantham Turner, December 2004</ref>

It is thought that this woodcut booklet is "…several generations removed from the original engravings…"<ref name="December 2004"/> of Marcantonio. It is thought that these generations of I modi copies have been based on the Agostino Veneziano edition of I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/>

It has been speculated that this woodcut booklet from around 1555 may have been copied from a second woodcut copy of I modi that is speculated to have been created around 1540.<ref name="June 2009 pages 116-117">Template:Cite journal</ref>

It is thought the woodblocks that were used to print the woodcut booklet may have been reused multiple times.<ref name="June 2009 pages 116-117"/> The images have borders that were frequently broken indicating wear and breakage in the woodblocks.<ref name="June 2009 pages 116-117"/>

One of the leaves is missing from this woodcut booklet<ref name="June 2009"/> and there were two I modi-related images on this leaf.<ref name="December 2004"/>

This woodcut booklet shows that there were more images in Giulio and Marcantonio's edition of I modi than is shown by the nine remaining fragments and the one whole image that are thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004"/>

It has been described that for this woodcut booklet there are two images "…in the abbreviated final signature…[that] seem to come from different traditions."<ref name="December 2004"/> For one of these two images it has been commented that "…both image and text differ markedly in style from those that precede them…" in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="spring 2009">Template:Cite journal</ref>

When the images in the woodcut booklet are compared to the engravings thought to be by Agostino it is thought they have been changed to suit the woodcut medium, with the images being square and reduced in size.<ref name="June 2009"/>

Engraving in the Albertina museum (16th century)

There is one engraving in the Albertina museum<ref name="Albertina engraving">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="December 2004"/> that is thought to have been copied from Agostino Veneziano's edition of I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> It matches an oval fragment in the British Museum<ref name="December 2004"/> and the 11th image in the woodcut booklet.

It is thought that this single engraving comes from a set of engravings<ref name="December 2004"/> and only this one engraving presently remains from this set.<ref name="December 2004"/>

It is dated to the 16th century, and the artist is unknown.<ref name="Albertina engraving"/> It is numbered in the bottom right corner with two.<ref name="December 2004"/>

Francesco Xanto Avelli maiolica dishes

It is thought that between 1531 and 1535 Francesco Xanto Avelli saw Agostino Veneziano's copy of I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> Xanto painted a maiolica dish titled The Tiber in Flood, and the figures on this dish have the same postures as those in images numbered 1, 3, 8 and 14 in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="December 2004"/> The dish also includes a herm sculpture that copies a herm that can be seen in image 1 of the woodcut booklet.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

Xanto painted a second maiolica dish titled Narcissus (The vain lover of his own image).<ref name="2017 Visible"/> The figure of Narcissus on this maiolica plate has been copied from the third woodcut copy image of I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

Parmigianino drawing

Parmigianino drew a copy of one of the engravings in I modi with sex occurring between two figures who are seated. This drawing is similar to the 10th image in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> It includes similar postures of the figures and details of drapery and furniture.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> A second drawing by Parmigianino has similarities to the 10th image in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

Engravings in the National Library of Spain

There is an engraving in the National Library of Spain that copies one scene from I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible p157">Template:Cite book</ref> The engraving shows two figures seated having sex with a wooden cradle lying on the ground next to them, and the foot of one of the figures is rocking the cradle.<ref name="2017 Visible p157"/> This engraving is not present in the woodcut booklet<ref name="December 2004"/> and does not correspond to any of the fragments thought to be by Agostino Veneziano that are in the British Museum.<ref name="December 2004"/>

A second engraving in the National Library of Spain has been copied from the one whole engraving that is thought to be by Agostino Veneziano and that corresponds to image one in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="2017 Visible p409">Template:Cite book</ref> This second engraving has been created in reverse when compared to the image thought to be by Agostino.<ref name="2017 Visible p409"/>

Both of these two images in the National Library of Spain are by an unknown artist and dated to after 1530.<ref name="2017 Visible p157"/> They are also both "…uniform in engraving style, paper and ink…".<ref name="2017 Visible p409"/>

Sepia drawings by Johan Tobias Sergel

A sepia drawing by Johan Tobias Sergel (1740–1814) possibly copies one scene from I Modi. The scene that it copies is the scene that is shown on an engraving in the National Library of Spain of sex between two seated figures.

A second sepia drawing by Johan Tobias Sergel has some similarities to this image in the National Library of Spain.

"The French Arétin by a member of the Academy of Ladies" - François-Félix Nogaret, Francois-Rolland Elluin, Antoine Borel - (1787)

In 1787 a book of sonnets and engravings of sexual scenes was published under the title "L'Aretin François, by a member of the Academy of Ladies".<ref name=Aretin1787>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=bnf>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The sonnets were written by François-Félix Nogaret<ref name=Aretin1787/> and the engravings were created by Francois-Rolland Elluin based on drawings by Antoine Borel.<ref name=Aretin1787/> It is thought to have been published in Reims or Paris and is in the collection of the National Library of France.<ref name=bnf/>

It is commented in the book that; "Do not expect to find here a literal translation of the Sonnets of Aretino.... ...The Poet only applied himself to rendering the various subjects of the Designer..."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

These same sonnets by François-Félix Nogaret were published again in a book in 1869 under the same title.<ref name=Aretin1869>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also commented in this book from 1869 that the poems in this book have been translated from the sonnets of Pietro Aretino.<ref name=Aretin1869/>

In a foreword to the book published in 1869 it is commented that "L'Arétin français, followed by Les Epices de Vénus, first appeared in 1787, then in 1788, then in 1803, 1829, 1830 and 1869".<ref name=Aretin1869/>

In this book from 1869 there are a total of eighteen engravings.<ref name=Aretin1869/> Seventeen of these eighteen engravings are copies of engravings that are in the book published in 1787.<ref name=Aretin1869/><ref name=Aretin1787/>

For the book published in 1787 there are two images that have some similarities to two images from I modi. One image is similar to an engraving in the National Library of Spain showing sex between two people who are seated. The second image is similar to the 14th image in the woodcut booklet.

For the book published in 1869 there is also an image that is similar to the 14th image in the woodcut booklet.

Henry Wellesley engravings

Henry Wellesley owned two engravings that are now in the collection of the National Library of France,<ref name="December 2004"/> and both engravings are related to I modi images.<ref name="December 2004"/> One engraving was similar to the whole single image thought to be by Agostino in the British Museum and was numbered, and the other engraving was similar to the image in the Albertina museum and was numbered two.<ref name="December 2004"/>

Delaborde and Bartsch descriptions

Henri Delaborde and Adam Bartsch gave descriptions of images as belonging to I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> The descriptions that they gave do not relate to any existing images and perhaps are examples of additional images that may have been in the original I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/>

17th-century printing

In the 17th century, Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford, engaged in the surreptitious printing at the University Press of Aretino's Postures, Aretino's De omnis Veneris schematibus and the indecent engravings after Giulio and Marcantonio. The Dean, Dr. John Fell, impounded the copper plates and threatened those involved with expulsion.<ref>R. W. Ketton-Cremer, "Humphrey Prideaux", Norfolk Assembly (London: Faber & Faber) 1957:65.</ref> The text of Aretino's sonnets, however, survives.

Images from I modi copies

• Posture 01 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 2.jpg

  Image 1 woodcut booklet

• Marcantonio - A nude God and Goddess laying on a bed embracing, 1857,0711.20.jpg

  The corresponding image thought to be by Agostino Veneziano. Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/> British Museum

• Pietro aretino e anonimo xilografo veneziano, sonetti sopra il xvi modi, post 1537-1550 ca. (coll. priv.) 02. - Extracted image.jpg

  Image 2 woodcut booklet

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 04).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 2 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004"/> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Pietro aretino e anonimo xilografo veneziano, sonetti sopra il xvi modi, post 1537-1550 ca. (coll. priv.) 03. - Extracted image.jpg

  Image 3 woodcut booklet

• Posture 04 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi after Agostino Veneziano.- around 1555.jpg

  Image 4 woodcut booklet

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 05).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 4 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano. Two fragments cut from the one engraving.<ref name="December 2004"/> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 08).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 4 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004"/> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Posture 07 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 3.jpg

  Image 7 woodcut booklet

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 07).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 7 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004"/> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Bacanal sarcófago Nápoles.JPG

  Detail of a relief on the outside of an ancient Roman sarcophagus. It has been commented that postures of the female Satyr and the herm sculpture have similarities to the figures in image 7 of the woodcut booklet.<ref name="Lawner 1998"/><ref name=Bette/><ref name="2017 Visible"/> Marble. National Archaeological Museum, Naples. 140 to 160 CE.

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 03).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 9 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004" /> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009" />

• Posture 09 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550 - 4.jpg

  This image is made from two images. One is the image from the woodcut booklet. The second is the engraving thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 02).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 10 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004" /> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009" />

• Parmigianino - drawing - b.jpg

  A drawing that copies image 10 in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="2017 Visible" /> Parmigianino.<ref name="2017 Visible" /> Pen and brown ink on paper, trimmed. 1524–1527.<ref name="2017 Visible" />

• Parmigianino - Lovers, 1886.jpg

  A second drawing by Parmigianino with similarities to image 10.<ref name="2017 Visible" /> Pen, ink on paper. 1524–1527.<ref name="2017 Visible" />

• Posture 11 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1555.jpg

  Image 11 woodcut booklet

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 01).jpg

  Corresponding fragment to image 11 thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="December 2004"/> Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Engraving - after Marcantonio Raimondi - Albertina Museum (2).jpg

  Anonymous engraving, Albertina museum, 16th century

• Engraving - 2 images -.jpg

  This image has been made from two engravings. The first engraving is from the Albertina museum, and the second is thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

• Posture 12 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 3.jpg

  Image 12 woodcut booklet

• Posture 13 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 3.jpg

  Image 13 woodcut booklet

• Posture 14 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550 - 3.jpg

  Image 14 woodcut booklet

• Posture 15 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550 - Final two images - 3.jpg

  Image 15 woodcut booklet. The woodcut booklet has been described as having two images "…in the abbreviated final signature…[that] seem to come from different traditions."<ref name="December 2004"/> For the image with the standing figure it has been commented that "…both image and text differ markedly in style from those that precede them" in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="spring 2009"/>

• Posture 16 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550 - Final two images - 2.jpg

  Image 16 woodcut booklet. In the Fossombrone sketchbook there are two drawings of sexual scenes and it is speculated that the figures in these drawings have similar postures to the figures in image 16 from the woodcut booklet.<ref name="June 2009 page 121"/><ref name=2013Turnerp72/> A second idea is that "...these drawings [in the fossombrone sketchbook] while fascinatingly similar to the Modi, differ even more significantly from anything in the visual remains of those prints, as well as from each other in composition and perhaps graphic style."<ref name=2013Turnerp72/>

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 09).jpg

  Two fragments cut from the one engraving. These fragments not present in the woodcut booklet. Both fragments are thought to be by Agostino Veneziano. Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 06).jpg

  Second fragment that is not present in the woodcut booklet and thought to be by Agostino Veneziano. Around 1530.<ref name="June 2009"/>

• Engraving by an unkown Artist - printed with brownish ink - dated to around 1530 - National Library of Spain.jpg

  An engraving in the National Library of Spain that copies one scene from I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible p157"/> This engraving is not present in the woodcut booklet,<ref name="2017 Visible p157"/><ref name="December 2004"/> and none of the fragments thought to be by Agostino Veneziano in the British Museum are related to this scene.<ref name="December 2004"/> It is by an unknown artist and dated to after 1530.<ref name="2017 Visible p157"/> This image has been reversed.

• Sepia drawings - A copy of an engraving that is in the National Library of Spain - This engraving is a scene from I Modi - Artist; Johan Tobias Sergel (1740 - 1814) - 1.jpg

  A sepia drawing by Johan Tobias Sergel (1740–1814) that possibly copies one scene from I modi. The scene that it copies can be seen on an engraving that is in the National Library of Spain.

• Sepia drawings - Artist; Johan Tobias Sergel (1740 - 1814) - 3.jpg

  A second sepia drawing by Johan Tobias Sergel that has some similarities to a scene from I modi that is in the National Library of Spain.

• L'Aretin François, gravure-16.jpg

  An engraving with similarities to a scene from I modi that is in the National Library of Spain. Engraving by Francois-Rolland Elluin from drawings by Antoine Borel. 1787

• Copperplate engraving - detail - End of the eighteenth century.jpg

  Detail of a copperplate engraving with similarities to a scene from I modi that is in the National Library of Spain. End of the 18th century.

• C.sf., urbino, francesco xanto avelli, piatto con inondazione del tevere, 1531.JPG

  A maiolica dish titled The Tiber in Flood that was painted by Francesco Xanto Avelli.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> It is thought that between 1531 and 1535 Francesco Xanto Avelli saw Agostino Veneziano's copy of I modi.<ref name="December 2004"/> There are five figures on this dish that have the same postures as those in images numbered 1, 3, 8 and 14 in the woodcut booklet.<ref name="December 2004"/>

• Posture 01 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 2.jpg

  The first image from the woodcut booklet. One figure in this image has been copied in the maiolica dish titled The Tiber in Flood.<ref name="2017 Visible" />

• Posture 8 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi Giulio Romano - around 1555 - 4.jpg

  The eighth woodcut copy image of I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible" /><ref name="December 2004" /> A figure in this image has been copied in the maiolica dish titled The Tiber in Flood.<ref name="2017 Visible" />

• Posture 14 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi Giulio Romano - around 1555 - 4.jpg

  The fourteenth woodcut copy image of I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible" /><ref name="December 2004" /> A figure in this image has been copied in the maiolica dish titled The Tiber in Flood.<ref name="2017 Visible" />

• Maiolica plate - 1a.jpg

  Francesco Xanto Avelli painted a second maiolica dish titled Narcissus (The vain lover of his own image).<ref name="2017 Visible"/> The figure of Narcissus on this Maiolica dish has been copied from the third woodcut copy image of I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

• Agostino Veneziano - Attributed to - Leda, sitting on a carved bench, leaning against a tree and embracing Jupiter in the form of a swan, 1922,0610.11.jpg

  This engraving of Leda and the Swan is not present in the woodcut booklet. It is thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> It is speculated that this image is based on an image that was in the Giulio and Marcantonio edition of I modi. 1524–1527?<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures by Jacques Joseph Coiny

In 1798, in Paris, a collection of engravings of sexual scenes were published under the title Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures.<ref>Translated into French as L'Arétin d'Augustin Carrache ou Recueil de postures érotiques</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">The frontispiece states À la nouvelle Cythère, without a date or place of publication.</ref><ref>Venus Erotic Art Museum</ref><ref>Erotica in Art — Agostino Carracci in the "History of Art" Template:Webarchive</ref> The engravings were created by Jacques Joseph Coiny.

One theory is that these images were based on the erotic poses in The Loves of the Gods which was created at the start of the 17th century in Antwerp by Pieter de Jode I with the use of burin.<ref>Template:In lang Louis Dunand and Philippe Lemarchand, Augustin Carrache. Les amours des Dieux, Genève, Slatkine, 1990, pp. 1009–1033.</ref> It presently remains uncertain what images these engravings were based on. It is thought that Coiny had a set of six anonymous prints, and it is difficult to say which prints these were.<ref>Template:In lang Nathalie Strasser in Éros invaincu. La Bibliothèque Gérard Nordmann, Genève, Cercle d'art, 2004, pp. 30–31.</ref>

A second idea<ref name=Haskell>Francis Haskell, Taste and the Antique, (Template:ISBN)</ref> is that these engravings were created by Camillo Procaccini, though based on Carracci drawings, which in turn are very similar to the engravings in the edition of I modi by Giulio and Marcantonio.<ref name=Haskell/> A third idea is that they were created by Agostino Carracci for a later reprint of Aretino's poems.<ref>IRONIE, article on Carracci’s engravings (in French)</ref>

Classical guise in Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures

Several factors were used to cloak these engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures in classical scholarly respectability:

• The images nominally depicted famous pairings of lovers (e.g. Antony and Cleopatra) or husband-and-wife deities (e.g. Jupiter and Juno) from classical history and mythology engaged in sexual activity, and were entitled as such. Related to this were:
  • Portraying them with their usual attributes, such as:
    • Cleopatra's banquets, bottom left
    • Achilles's shield and helmet, bottom left
    • Hercules in his lion-skin and club
    • Mars with his cuirass
    • Paris as a shepherd
    • Bacchus with his vine-leaf crown and (bottom right) grapes
  • Referring to the best-known myths or historical events in which they appeared, e.g.:
    • Mars and Venus under the net which her husband Vulcan has designed to catch them
    • 'Aeneas' and 'Dido' in the cave in which their sexual intercourse is alluded in Aeneid, Book 4
    • Theseus abandoning Ariadne on Naxos, where Bacchus finds and marries her.<ref>Theseus's departing ship is visible on the horizon, top right.</ref>
    • The wide adultery of Julia
    • Messalina's participation in prostitution, as criticised in Juvenal's Satire VI.
  • Referring to other Renaissance and classical tropes in the depiction of these people and deities, such as
    • The contrast between Mars's dark hair and tanned skin and his partner Venus's untanned, fair skin and fair or even blond hair.<ref>This trope did not fully exist in classical art -

in frescoes and polychromatic sculptures, Venus was always fair-skinned, but her hair colour could vary from brown through to blond – but became fixed due to medieval and Renaissance art (e.g. Botticelli's Venus and Mars).</ref>

• • • Jupiter's full beard<ref>A trope copied from classical and Renaissance sources.</ref>
• The frontispiece image is entitled Venus Genetrix,<ref>An attested epithet of the love/lust goddess Venus, although under that name she was more a mother goddess than a love/lust goddess.</ref> and the goddess is nude and drawn in a chariot by doves, as in the classical sources.
• The bodies of those depicted show clear influences from classical statuary known at the time, such as:
  • The over-muscled torsos and backs of the men<ref>Also, in one or two cases, the women's, though this has far less, if any, precedent in classical sculpture.</ref> (drawn from sculptures such as the Laocoön and his Sons, Belvedere Torso, and Farnese Hercules).<ref>See also the modern phenomenon of the beefcake in erotic art.</ref>
  • The women's clearly defined though small breasts (drawn from examples such as the Venus de' Medici and Aphrodite of Cnidus)<ref>Though their thighs are often larger than in the examples from classical statuary.</ref>
  • The elaborate hairstyles of some of the women, such as his Venus, Juno or Cleopatra (derived from Roman Imperial era busts such as this one).
• Portraying the action in a classical 'stage set' such as an ancient Greek sanctuary or temple.
• The large erect penis on the statue of Priapus or Pan atop a puteal in 'The Cult of Priapus' is derived from examples in classical sculpture and painting (like this fresco) which were beginning to be found archaeologically at this time.<ref>On the other hand, the posture in the engraving is not to be found in any known examples and is probably Caracci's own invention. Certainly archaeological examples usually (though not always) tend to show Priapus's erect and oversized penis hanging down, not standing up parallel with his chest as here, and give less importance to large or oversized testicles than in this engraving.</ref>

Differences from antique art

Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures has various points of deviation from classical literature, erotica, mythology and art which suggest its classical learning is lightly worn, and make clear its actual modern setting:

• The male sexual partners' large penises (though not Priapus's) are the artist's invention rather than a classical borrowing – the idealised penis in classical art was small, not large (large penises were seen as comic or fertility symbols, as for example on Priapus, as discussed above).
• The title 'Polyenus and Chryseis' pairs the fictional Polyenus with the actual mythological character Chryseis.
• The title 'Alcibiades and Glycera' pairs two historical figures from different periods – the 5th-century BC Alcibiades and the 4th-century BC Glycera
• Female satyrs did not occur in classical mythology, yet they appear twice in this work (in 'The Satyr and his wife' and 'The Cult of Priapus').<ref>Male satyrs having sex with nymphs, on the other hand, did appear in Greek myth – as has been taken up in Renaissance art –, though this was more frequently rape in the myths rather than the apparent consensual sex in the engraving.</ref>
• All the women and goddesses in this work (but most clearly its Venus Genetrix) have a hairless groin (like classical statuary of nude females) but also a clearly apparent vulva (unlike classical statuary).<ref>The men's pubic hair in the engravings does not pose a problem, since pubic hair was depicted on ancient nudes.</ref>
• The modern furniture, e.g.
  • The various stools and cushions used to support the participants or otherwise raise them into the right positions (e.g. here)
  • The other sex aids (e.g. a whip, bottom right)
  • The 16th-century beds, with ornate curtains, carvings, tasselled cushions, bedposts, etc.

Engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures

The images in the table below are the engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

These engravings have inspired the creation of erotic art from other artists including Paul Avril.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Image	No.	Title (English translation)	Male partner	Female partner	Sexual position	Notes
File:Carracci Venus Genitrice.jpg	1	Venus Genetrix	-	Venus Genetrix	Female figure study of nude in frontal disposition	-
File:Paris et Oenone.jpg	2	Paris and Oenone	Paris	Oenone	Side-by-side, man on top
File:Carracci Angelique et Medor.jpg	3	Angelique and Medor	Medor	Angelique	Reverse cowgirl	Characters from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso
File:Carracci Le Satyre et la Nymphe.jpg	4	The satyr and the nymph	Satyr	Nymph	Missionary position (man on top and standing, woman lying)
File:Carracci05.jpg	5	Julia with an athlete	An athlete	Julia the Elder	Reverse cowgirl (woman standing)	Woman guiding in penis
File:HerculeDejanire.jpg	6	Hercules and Deianaira	Hercules	Deianira	Standing missionary (woman supported by man)
File:MarsVenus.jpg	7	Mars and Venus	Mars	Venus	Missionary (woman on top<ref>Though lying not sitting, and with left foot supported by stool</ref>)
File:CultePriape.jpg	8	The Cult of Priapus	Pan, or a male satyr	A female satyr	Missionary (male standing, woman sitting)	Statue of Priapus with characteristically disproportionate erection
File:Carracci Antoine et Cleopatre.jpg	9	Antony and Cleopatra	Mark Antony	Cleopatra	Side-by-side missionary	Woman guiding in penis
File:BachusAriane.jpg	10	Bacchus and Ariadne	Bacchus	Ariadne	Leapfrog - woman entirely supported	Woman's legs up not kneeling as usual in this position
File:PolyenosChrisis.jpg	11	Polyenos and Chriseis	Polyenos (fictional)	Chryseis	Missionary (man on top and standing, woman lying)
File:SatyreFemme.jpg	12	A satyr and his wife	Male satyr	Female satyr	Missionary (man standing, woman sitting)
File:Carracci Jupiter et Junon.jpg	13	Jupiter and Juno	Jupiter	Juno	Standing (man standing/kneeling, woman supported <ref>Or, more precisely, woman partly lying, partly supported by bed, and partly supported on left arm.</ref>)
File:MessalineLisisca.jpg	14	Messalina in the booth of 'Lisica'	Brothel client	Messalina	Missionary (female lying, male standing)
File:Carracci Achille et Briseis.jpg	15	Achilles and Briseis	Achilles	Briseis	Standing (man entirely supporting woman)
File:Ovide et Corine.jpg	16	Ovid and Corinna	Ovid	Corinna	Missionary (man on top, woman guiding erect penis into her vagina)	Woman deepening penetration by having her legs outside his.
File:EneeDidon.jpg	17	Aeneas and Dido [accompanied by a Cupid]	Aeneas	Dido	Fingering with left hand index finger (thus little nudity relative to other images)	Lesser nudity, though wet T-shirt effect round breasts; Cupid is erect
File:AlcibiadeGlycere.jpg	18	Alcibiades and Glycera	Alcibiades	Glycera	Missionary (man on top and standing, woman lying and legs up)	Man also raised up to right level for vagina by right foot on step
File:Pandore.jpg	19	Pandora	?Epimetheus (crowned figure)	Pandora	Side by side	The boy with the candle may be a classical reference.<ref>To the classical "'Puer sufflans ignes" in Pliny. Also, the satyr who has attempted to join the lovemakers (but been kicked in the groin by the male) has an erection as a result of his voyeurism.</ref>

Erotic art in the 15th and 16th century

Drawings - Fossombrone Sketchbook - Workshop of Raphael

In the Fossombrone sketchbook, which is from the workshop of Raphael,<ref name=2013Turner2nd>Template:Cite journal</ref> there are two drawings that show sex between two people.<ref name=2013Turnerp72/><ref name="June 2009 page 121">Template:Cite journal</ref>

One idea is that these two drawings are based on "I modi" engravings.<ref name=2013Turnerp72/><ref name="June 2009 page 121"/> Image 16 from the woodcut booklet has some similarities to both of these drawings.<ref name=2013Turnerp72/><ref name="June 2009 page 121"/>

Another idea that has been speculated is that they show "...independant permutations and variations on sexual motifs perhaps from an antique source, perhaps invented in Raphael's studio."<ref name=2013Turnerp72>Template:Cite journal</ref> Further that "...these drawings while fascinatingly similar to the Modi, differ even more significantly from anything in the visual remains of those prints, as well as from each other in composition and perhaps graphic style."<ref name=2013Turnerp72/>

It was further commented that these two drawings "...allow the Modi to be understood as emerging from a collective enterprise, rather than as unique orignary models."<ref name=2013Turnerp72/> and that "...these erotic scenes [can be seen] as pure fantasia, products of heated imagination."<ref name=2013Turnerp72/>

• Drawing - sexual scene - Fossombrone sketchbook - Studio of Raphael - 2.jpg

  Sex between a female and a male on a kline. Drawing. From the Fossombrone sketchbook.

• Drawing - sexual scene - Fossombrone sketchbook - Studio of Raphael - 4.jpg

  A second different drawing from the Fossombrone sketchbook. This drawing also shows sex between a female and a male.

Fresco cycle on the ceiling of the Farnese Gallery - Annibale Carracci and studio (Between 1597 and 1608)

Between 1597 and 1608 Annibale Carracci and his studio painted a fresco cycle on the ceiling of the Farnese Gallery which is located in the west wing of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome.

This fresco cycle is titled The Loves of the Gods and the images were drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses. These frescos include nudes that are intimating sex between two people in contrast to the engravings in I modi.

• Anibale Carracci, Farnese Ceiling, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus.jpg

  Painting from the fresco cycle Loves of the Gods. Annibale Carracci and studio. Palazzo Farnese, Rome. Between 1597 and 1608

• Carracci - Jupiter et Junon.jpeg

  Jupiter and Juno. Painting from the fresco cycle Loves of the Gods. Annibale Carracci and studio. Palazzo Farnese, Rome. 1597 to 1608

Erotic art by Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi

Giulio Romano and Marcantonio Raimondi have both created erotic art outside of their collaboration on I modi.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> In the hall of Cupid and Psyche in Te Palace in Mantua, Romano created the fresco Jupiter seducing Olympia and it shows Jupiter with an erection approaching a reclining Olympia.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> In around 1520 to 1530 Romano created the painting The Lovers that shows an erotic scene between two figures on a bed<ref name="2017 Visible"/> and carved into a leg of the bed is an erotic scene between a female and a Satyr.<ref name="2017 Visible"/> In around 1530 Romano also created a drawing of an erotic scene between a female and a male.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

In around 1500 to 1505 Raimondi created a drawing of Leda and the Swan<ref name="2017 Visible"/> and in around 1510 he created a drawng of a female standing whilst holding a dildo next to her vagina.<ref name="2017 Visible"/>

• Giulio Romano - Jupiter Seducing Olympias - WGA09573.jpg

  Jupiter seducing Olympia, Giulio Romano. Fresco. In the hall of cupid and Psyche in the Te palace in Mantua. Between 1526 and 1528

• Lovers- Giulio Romano - oil painting - 1520s - 1530s.jpg

  The Lovers, Giulio Romano. Oil painting. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. Around 1520 to 1530

• Giulio Romano Lovers 1525-1528 Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest.jpg

  Erotic Scene, Giulio Romano. Pen and charcoal drawing. Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest). Around 1530

• Marcantonio - Leda and the Swan, 1946,0713.210.jpg

  Leda and the Swan, Maracantonio Raimondi. Pen and chalk drawing. British Museum, London. 1500 to 1505

• Engraving - Inventory No.NMG B 1169 1990.jpg

  Standing woman with Artificial Phallus,<ref name=visible>Template:Cite book</ref> Maracantonio Raimondi. Fragment of a copperplate engraving.<ref name=visible/> Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Around 1510?<ref name=visible/>

Erotic Renaissance paintings in the 15th and 16th century

In around 1500 Jacopo de' Barbari created the painting the Naked Lovers that shows an erotic scene between two standing naked figures. In the first third of the 16th century<ref name=Becker1992>Template:Cite book</ref> Bernard van Orley created the painting Neptune and Nymph that shows sex between a Nymph and Neptune.

In the Schifanoia Palace in Ferrara, there is a hall titled the Hall of the Months and in this hall there is a fresco cycle described as "...a sort of large calendar"<ref name="Hall of the Months">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> that combines scenes of ancient mythology with astrological scenes.<ref name="Palazzo Schifanoia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One of these frescos titled the Allegory of April shows an erotic scene in the lower left hand corner. The frescos were created by Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de’ Roberti<ref name="Palazzo Schifanoia"/> and Gherardo di Andrea Fiorini<ref name="Hall of the Months"/><ref name="Palazzo Schifanoia"/> in around 1469.<ref name="Hall of the Months" />

In around 1470 the oil painting Love spell<ref name="Description">See a photo of a description for the painting on wikimedia commons: File:GER — Sachsen — Leipzig — Katharinenstraße 10 (MdbK) Mattes 2022-03-23 Batch (29).jpg</ref> was created that shows a nude female inside a room dropping water into a chest that contains a large heart. At the rear of the room a second person is entering and is vieweing the scene from a doorway. The painting is by an unknown lower Rhenish artist.<ref name="Description"/>

• Naked Lovers (verso of the Portrait of a Man) - Jacopo de' Barbari - around 1500.jpg

  Naked lovers, Jacopo de' Barbari. Oil on poplar panel. State Museums, Berlin. Around 1500.

• "Neptune and Nymph" Bernard van Orley. 16th century. private collection - 4.jpg

  Neptune and Nymph. Bernard van Orley. Oil on panel. Private collection. First third of the 16th century.<ref name=Becker1992/>

• Allegory of April - Francesco del Cossa - 1.jpg

  Allegory of April. A fresco in the Hall of the Months in the Schifanoia Palace, Ferrara. Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de’ Roberti<ref name="Palazzo Schifanoia"/> and Gherardo di Andrea Fiorini.<ref name="Hall of the Months"/> Around 1469

• GER — Sachsen — Leipzig — Katharinenstraße 10 (MdbK) Mattes 2022-03-23 Batch (30).jpg

  Love Spell. Artist: Unknown lower Rhenish artist. Oil on panel. Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig. Around 1470<ref name="Description"/>

Cultural references

The Restoration closet drama Farce of Sodom is set in "an antechamber hung with Aretine's postures". In the 1989 novel The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga, a copy of the book is discovered in a convent following the 1966 flood of the Arno.

See also

• History of erotic depictions
• Homosexuality in ancient Greece
• Homosexuality in ancient Rome
• Sexuality in ancient Rome

Notes

Talvacchia, Bette "Taking Positions: On the Erotic in Renaissance Culture" Princeton University Press 1999 Page: 250 Template:Isbn

External links

• Selection of images in various versions