The top 10 romantic artworks
From the filthy to the romantic, art celebrating erotic pleasure has thrilled artists and collectors for centuries.
As Sotheby's plays host to the much-anticipated Erotic: Passion & Desire sale next week, we round up 10 of the best romantic artworks celebrating pleasure in the most sensual and provocative ways (leaving pornography aside, of course).
Just in time for Valentine's Day, this selection will make even the most liberal among you hot under the collar. Enjoy.
Titian's Venus of Urbino was supposedly commissioned by the Duke of Urbino Guidobaldo II Della Rovere as a wedding gift for his bride to be. Over the centuries, Titian's erotically charged reclining nude has excited much controversy among critics: some interpret the painting as an allegory of marriage, identifying the nude as a domesticated Venus – the goddess of love – others interpret her as a courtesan, perhaps Angela Zaffetta.
Gazing seductively at the viewer, the Venus figure reclines in opulent, lavish surroundings. Next to her lies a sleeping dog, the traditional symbol of fidelity, and in the background stands a maiden and child.
Clasping a posy of roses and covering her modesty with her left hand, this perfect Renaissiance woman has become the symbol of traditional love, beauty and fertility in the pages of art history.
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