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Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 BC-AD 250
What did sex mean to the ancient Romans? In this lavishly illustrated study, John R. Clarke investigates a rich assortment of Roman erotic art to answer this question―and along the way, he reveals a society quite different from our own. Clarke reevaluates our understanding of Roman art and society in a study informed by recent gender and cultural studies, and focusing for the first time on attitudes toward the erotic among both the Roman non-elite and women. This splendid volume is the first study of erotic art and sexuality to set these works―many newly discovered and previously unpublished―in their ancient context and the first to define the differences between modern and ancient concepts of sexuality using clear visual evidence.
Roman artists pictured a great range of human sexual activities―far beyond those mentioned in classical literature―including sex between men and women, men and men, women and women, men and boys, threesomes, foursomes, and more. Roman citizens paid artists to decorate expensive objects, such as silver and cameo glass, with scenes of lovemaking. Erotic works were created for and sold to a broad range of consumers, from the elite to the very poor, during a period spanning the first century B.C. through the mid-third century of our era. This erotic art was not hidden away, but was displayed proudly in homes as signs of wealth and luxury. In public spaces, artists often depicted outrageous sexual acrobatics to make people laugh.
Looking at Lovemaking depicts a sophisticated, pre-Christian society that placed a high value on sexual pleasure and the art that represented it. Clarke shows how this culture evolved within religious, social, and legal frameworks that were vastly different from our own and contributes an original and controversial chapter to the history of human sexuality.
Roman artists pictured a great range of human sexual activities―far beyond those mentioned in classical literature―including sex between men and women, men and men, women and women, men and boys, threesomes, foursomes, and more. Roman citizens paid artists to decorate expensive objects, such as silver and cameo glass, with scenes of lovemaking. Erotic works were created for and sold to a broad range of consumers, from the elite to the very poor, during a period spanning the first century B.C. through the mid-third century of our era. This erotic art was not hidden away, but was displayed proudly in homes as signs of wealth and luxury. In public spaces, artists often depicted outrageous sexual acrobatics to make people laugh.
Looking at Lovemaking depicts a sophisticated, pre-Christian society that placed a high value on sexual pleasure and the art that represented it. Clarke shows how this culture evolved within religious, social, and legal frameworks that were vastly different from our own and contributes an original and controversial chapter to the history of human sexuality.
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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June 25, 2016
Clarke is an academic art critic known for his work on sexuality in Greek and Roman art. In this book he argues that the Romans were not just like us (despite what 'popular' historians, novelists and the BBC would have one think) and explores this difference through an analysis of Roman sexual culture and the visual images it produced.
By contextualising the erotic images he discusses, he explores the way sexual representations on cups, walls painting, mirrors, vases etc. are embedded within Roman social practices and are public indicators of culture, social status and luxury, rather than private objects as they might be for us.
For anyone who works on Latin literary texts, this is an ideal way for thinking about the interaction between the visual and material culture surrounding the poets who wrote erotic poetry, and makes some of the texts less cultural shocking, indeed, almost tame in comparison with some of the pictures that surrounded Romans in their daily lives.
Acutely pointing out that while sexual and erotic acts might stay the same, their meaning can be nuanced in different cultural contexts, Clarke adds nicely to the literature on sexuality and the erotic in Roman culture.
By contextualising the erotic images he discusses, he explores the way sexual representations on cups, walls painting, mirrors, vases etc. are embedded within Roman social practices and are public indicators of culture, social status and luxury, rather than private objects as they might be for us.
For anyone who works on Latin literary texts, this is an ideal way for thinking about the interaction between the visual and material culture surrounding the poets who wrote erotic poetry, and makes some of the texts less cultural shocking, indeed, almost tame in comparison with some of the pictures that surrounded Romans in their daily lives.
Acutely pointing out that while sexual and erotic acts might stay the same, their meaning can be nuanced in different cultural contexts, Clarke adds nicely to the literature on sexuality and the erotic in Roman culture.
Displaying 1 of 1 review