THE SEX OF ART
|
i#7 When studying ancient sculptures, art psychologist IC McManus discovered that 51 per cent show the left testicle as lower, 22 per cent the right as lower and 27 per cent level i#7 Yves Klein made his female models smear paint on their naked bodies and make art by imprinting themselves on paper i#7 Leonardo da Vinci is said to have thought the lungs had canals leading to the sexual organs and to have invented high heels i#7 Jeff Koons’ ‘Made In Heaven’ series depicts him in a number of |
|
explicit sexual positions with his then wife, ex-pom star/politician La Cicciolina, now Ilona Staller i#7 When Michelangelo’s David was lent to London in 1857, a two — foot-high fig leaf was placed in front of his genitals to prevent shocking Queen Victoria i#7 In a Simpsons episode, Homer is embarrassed when he takes home a Robert Mapplethorpe book of ultra-risque photographs by mistake i#7 Agalmatophilia, also known as Pygmalionism, is sexual attraction to statues, dolls and mannequins |
 |
Love and promiscuity have always been associated with creativity. From bohemian passions to obsessions with muses, sex has been a behind-the-scenes inspiration as well the subject of many masterpieces throughout the history of art.
 |
La Gioconda
Is she or isn’t she? Regarded as one of the most seductive figures in history, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the ‘Mona Lisa’ has caused many viewers to try to read her ‘smile’.
Interpretations include pregnancy, ‘she’s got facial paralysis’ and, according to a computer at the University of Amsterdam in 2006, she’s 83 per cent happy, 9 per cent disgusted, 6 per cent fearful and 2 per cent angry. Freud thought her smile represented Leonardo’s erotic obsession with his mother and, to ensure La Gioconda’s ongoing association with sex, she’s even appeared on a condom packet.