''I Modi'' (''The Ways''), also known as ''The Sixteen Pleasures'' or under the Latin title ''De omnibus Veneris Schematibus'', is a famous

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

book of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

in which a series of sexual positions were explicitly depicted in

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s. There are now no known copies of the first two original editions of "I modi" by

Marcantonio Raimondi Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figu ...

. There is one engraving and nine fragments cut from engravings in the British Museum, and it is thought that these engravings were made by

Agostino Veneziano Agostino Veneziano ("Venetian Agostino"), whose real name was Agostino de' Musi (c. 1490 – c. 1540), was an important and prolific Italian engraver of the Renaissance. Life Veneziano was born in Venice, where he trained as an artist, though ...

by copying from drawings offset from an original edition of "I modi".

Original edition

The original edition was created by the engraver Marcantonio Raimondi, basing his sixteen images of

sexual position A sex position is a position of the body that people use for sexual intercourse or other sexual activities. Sexual acts are generally described by the positions the participants adopt in order to perform those acts. Though sexual intercourse ...

s on, according to the traditional view, a series of erotic paintings that

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-centu ...

was doing as a commission for

Federico II Gonzaga Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua (first as Marquis, later as Duke) from 1519 until his death. He was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536. Biography Federico was son of Francesc ...

’s new

Palazzo Te or is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Although formed in Italian, the usual name in English of Palazzo del Te is not that ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. One idea for a possible source of inspiration for Giulio Romano when creating the images that became designs for "I modi" were ancient Roman spintria tokens. Marcantonio had worked extensively with Romano's master

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

, who had died in 1520, producing prints to his designs. The engravings were published by Marcantonio in 1524, and led to his imprisonment by

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

and the destruction of all copies of the illustrations. Romano did not become aware of the engravings until the poet

Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...

came to see the original paintings while Romano was still working on them. Romano was not prosecuted since—unlike Marcantonio—his images were not intended for public consumption, and he was not in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. Aretino then composed sixteen explicit

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

s to accompany the paintings/engravings, and secured Marcantonio's release from prison. ''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'', making this the first time erotic text and images were combined, though the papacy once more seized all the copies it could find. Raimondi escaped prison on this occasion, but the suppression on both occasions was comprehensive. There are presently no remaining copies of the original first edition or the second edition of the "I modi".

Agostino Veneziano copy of "I modi"

It is thought that Agostino Veneziano may have engraved a single replacement set of engravings based on offset drawings from the engravings in Marcantonio's "I modi". It is thought that this replacement set of images is where both the nine partial fragments cut from seven engravings and the whole image of one single engraving in the Biritish Museum have come from. It is thought that Agostino created this replacement set of engravings with the help of other people. This replacement is thought to have been created in a different style to that of Marcantonios originals.

Copies of the Agostino Veneziano copy of "I modi"

Woodcut copy - around 1555 A possibly infringing copy with crude illustrations in

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

was created around 1555. It was bound in with some contemporary texts and was discovered in the 1920s, containing fifteen of the sixteen postures. It is thought that this woodcut copy booklet was copied from Agostino Veneziano's copy of "I Modi" and the artist is unknown. This woodcut copy booklet shows that there were more engravings in the original "I modi" edition than is shown in the nine fragments and the one whole image that are in the British Museum. Some of the leaves are missing from this booklet and there were modi related images on these leaves. Engraving in the Albertina Museum There is one whole image of an engraving in the Albertina museum that is thought to have been based on an image from the copy of "I modi" that Agostino Veneziano is thought to have made. It is thought that this single engraving comes from a set of engravings and only this one engraving presently remains from this set. This single engraving in the Albertina matches an oval fragment in the British museum and one of the woodcut copy images. It is numbered in the bottom right corner with two and has been dated to the 16th century and the artist is unknown. Francesco Xanto Avelli Maiolica dish It is thought that between 1531 and 1535 Francesco Xanto Avelli saw Agostino Veneziano's copy of I modi. Xanto painted a maiolica dish titled ''The Tiber in Flood'' and there are figures copied from four I modi engravings on the maiolica dish. Parmigianino drawing Parmigianino drew a copy of one of the engravings in the "I modi" with sex occurring between two figures who are seated. This copy is similar to the woodcut copy image numbered 10 and one painting by Agostino Carracci. It includes similar postures of the figures and details of drapery and furniture. Engraving in the National Library of Spain An engraving by an anonymous artist in the National Library of Spain copies one scene from the "I modi" that shows a seated female and male having sex and this scene is not present in the woodcut copy. The scene shows two figures seated having sex with a wooden cradle lying on the ground next to them and the foot of the male is rocking the cradle. Two Henry Wallesley engravings Henry Wellesley owned two engravings that were related to I Modi and they are now in the collection of the National Library of France. One engraving was similar to the whole single image in the British Museum and was numbered and the other engraving was similar to the image in the Albertina Museum and was numbered two. Bartsch and Delaborde descriptions Henri Delaborde and Adam Bartsch gave descriptions of images as belonging to the "I modi". The descriptions that they gave do not relate to any existing images and perhaps are examples of additional images that my have been in the original "I modi". 17th century printing of Aretino's posutres In the 17th century, certain Fellows of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, engaged in the surreptitious printing at the

University Press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars ...

of ''Aretino's Postures'', Aretino's ''De omnis Veneris schematibus'' and the indecent engravings after Giulio Romano. The Dean, Dr. John Fell, impounded the copper plates and threatened those involved with expulsion. The text of Aretino's sonnets, however, survives.

Leda and the swan engraving - Agostino Veneziano

There is an engraving of Leda and the swan in an erotic scene that is thought to be by Agostino Veneziano in the British Museum. The engraving has the same dimensions and format as the "I modi" engravings and there is a drawing of Leda and the swan in the series of brush drawings made by Waldeck and one idea is that the image on this engraving was a part of the original "I modi" by Marcantonio.

Images from I modi copies

Below are the woodcut copy images as they appear from 1 to 16 in the woodcut copy booklet alongside engravings from the British Museum. One of the leaves is missing in the booklet and there were images on these leaves that correspond to the missing numbers in this series 1 to 16. File:Posture 1 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 1 File:Marcantonio - A nude God and Goddess laying on a bed embracing, 1857,0711.20.jpg, The corresponding whole image to image 1 in the British Museum File:Posture 2 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 2 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 04).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragment to image 2 File:Posture 3 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 3 File:Posture 4 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 4 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 05).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragments to image 4. Two fragments cut from the one engraving. File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 08).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragments to image 4. File:Posture 7 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 7 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 07).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragment to image 7 File:Posture 8 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 8 File:Posture 9 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 9 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 03).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragment to image 9 File:Posture 10 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 10 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 02).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragment to image 10 File:Posture 11 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg, Image 11 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 01).jpg, Corresponding British Museum fragment to image 11 File:Engraving - after Marcantonio Raimondi - Albertina Museum (2).jpg, Anonymous engraving, Albertina Museum, 16th century File:Posture 12 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 12 File:Posture 13 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 13 File:Posture 14 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 14 File:Posture 15 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi - around 1550.jpg , Image 15. It was commented that for the woodcut copy booklet "Two additional images in the abbreviated final signature... seem to come from different traditions..." File:Counterfeit i modi.gif , Image 16 File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 09).jpg, Two fragments cut from the one engraving. These British Museum fragments not present in the woodcut copy booklet. File:Print (BM Ii,16.6.1-9 06).jpg, File:Agostino Veneziano - Leda, sitting on a carved bench, leaning against a tree and embracing Jupiter in the form of a swan, 1854,0614.280.jpg, This image is not present in the woodcut copy booklet. An engraving thought to be by Agostino veneziano. It is thought to be based on an image that was in the original Marcantonio edition of "I modi". 1510-1530

Agostino Carracci

Engravings by Camillo Procaccini or Agostino Carracci

A new series of graphic and explicit engravings of sexual positions was produced by

Camillo Procaccini 300px, ''Nativity'' by Camillo Procaccini Camillo Procaccini (3 March 1561 at Parma – 21 August 1629) was an Italian painter. He has been posthumously referred to as the ''Vasari of Lombardy'', for his prolific Mannerist fresco decoration. Bor ...

or more likely by

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or Caracci) (16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of ...

for a later reprint of Aretino's poems.

Annibale Carracci

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...

also completed the elaborate fresco of '' Loves of the Gods'' for the

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance List of palaces in Italy#Rome, palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and cur ...

in Rome (where the

Farnese Hercules The ''Farnese Hercules'' ( it, Ercole Farnese) is an ancient statue of Hercules, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; the name is Greek but he may have worked in Rome. Like ...

which influenced them both him and Agostino Carraci was housed). These images were drawn from Ovid's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

'' and include nudes, but (in contrast to the sexual engravings) are not explicit, intimating rather than directly depicting the act of

lovemaking Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...

. One image from Waldecks series of erotic drawings that are in the National library of France was based on a painting by Annibale Carraci.

''Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures'' - 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''.The frontispiece states ''À la nouvelle Cythère'', without a date or place of publication. The engravings were created by Jacques Joseph Coiny. These engravings are thought to not be based on the work of Agostino Carracci or Pietro Aretino. The word "Aretin" in the title of this collection of engravings is perhaps there as it became to mean any work that was related to sexual and mythological images. One theory in relation to what images these etchings were inspired by is that they were inspired by 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 Petrus, or Pieter de Jode I or Pieter de Jode the Elder (1570 – 9 August 1634), was a Flemish printmaker, draughtsman, publisher and painter active principally active in Antwerp. He was active as a reproductive artist who created many prints a ...

with the use of burin. It presently remains uncertain what images these etchings were inspired by. It is thought that Coiny had a set of six anonymous prints and it is difficult to say which prints these were.

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 Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

and

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

) 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 A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

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 In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

' and '

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

' in the cave in which their sexual intercourse is alluded in ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'',

Book 4 ''Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4'' is widely considered to be the ''magnum opus'' of 20th-century occultist Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema. It is a lengthy treatise on magick, his system of Western occult practice, synthesised from many ...

***

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

abandoning Ariadne on Naxos, where

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

finds and marries her. *** the wide adultery of

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

***

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...

's participation in prostitution, as criticised in Juvenal's

Satire VI Satire VI is the most famous of the sixteen '' Satires'' by the Roman author Juvenal written in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In English translation, this satire is often titled something in the vein of ''Against Women'' due to the most obvi ...

. ** 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. *** Jupiter's full beard * the frontispiece image is entitled Venus Genetrix, 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

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human � ...

s and backs of the men(drawn from sculptures such as the ''

Laocoön and his Sons The statue of ''Laocoön and His Sons'', also called the Laocoön Group ( it, Gruppo del Laocoonte), has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican Museums ...

'', ''

Belvedere Torso __NOTOC__ The Belvedere Torso is a tall fragmentary marble statue of a male nude, known to be in Rome from the 1430s, and signed prominently on the front of the base by "Apollonios, son of Nestor, Athenian", who is unmentioned in ancient litera ...

'', and ''Farnese Hercules''). ** the women's clearly defined though small

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

s (drawn from examples such as the

Venus de' Medici The Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus is a tall Hellenistic marble sculpture depicting the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. It is a 1st-century BC marble copy, perhaps made in Athens, of a bronze original Greek sculpture, following the type of th ...

and

Aphrodite of Cnidus The Aphrodite of Knidos (or Cnidus) was an Ancient Greek sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite created by Praxiteles of Athens around the 4th century BC. It is one of the first life-sized representations of the nude female form in Greek history, di ...

) ** the elaborate hairstyles of some of the women, such as his

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

(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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. * The large

erect penis An erection (clinically: penile erection or penile tumescence) is a physiological phenomenon in which the penis becomes firm, engorged, and enlarged. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular, ...

on the statue of

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...

or Pan atop a

puteal A puteal (Latin: from ''puteus'' (well) — plural: ''putealia''Venetian Wellheads @ Veniped ...

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.

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 partner Sexual partners are people who engage in sexual activity together. The sexual partners may be in a committed relationship, either on an exclusive basis or not, or engage in the sexual activity on a casual basis. They may be on intimate terms ...

s' 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

, 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 Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in t ...

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'). * 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 The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external sex organ, female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, bulb of vestibu ...

(unlike classical statuary). * 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 Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...

) ** The other

sex aid A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating ...

s (e.g. a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, 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'' by Jacques Joseph Coiny. These engravings have inspired the creation of erotic art from other artists including

Paul Avril Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Cultural References

The Restoration closet drama '' Farce of Sodom'' is set in "an antechamber hung with Aretine's postures."

Footnotes

External links

Selection of images in various versions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modi, I 1524 books 1527 books Censored books Erotic art Erotic literature 19th-century prints Prints and drawings in the British Museum Renaissance prints Sex manuals 16th-century prints