Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) caused a sensation in Italy with his bold satirical book Sixteen Postures describing sexual positions. It was wildly erotic for the time and, with illustrations to match the lusty content by Giuliano Romano, it sealed Aretino’s reputation as the smuttiest, most outrageously witty writer the Renaissance had seen. Casanova wrote in his memoirs of trying out the ‘straight tree’ position with a nun.
Eugene Pirou
This French photographer and filmmaker (1841-1909) was a pioneer of the blue or ‘stag’ movie, making more than 50 pornographic films in just one year. His 1896 debut Le Coucher de la Marie, which at three minutes was longer than the average film of the time, was a big hit in Paris. It inspired the beginning of a new genre, with fellow filmmakers Georges Melies and Charles Pathe soon getting in on the act.