Rare Collection of Four Pompeiian Erotic Etchings by Auguste Delvaux, 1836
Rare Collection of Four Pompeiian Erotic Etchings by Auguste Delvaux, 1836
This rare set of four framed hand-colored engravings by Auguste Delvaux comes from César Famin’s remarkable 1836 publication, Musée royal de Naples: peintures, bronzes et statues érotiques du cabinet secret. Each engraving reproduces a fresco unearthed in Pompeii in the 18th and 19th centuries, preserved in the Secret Cabinet of the Naples Archaeological Museum—a collection of ancient Roman erotic art long hidden from public view.
In this set: Bacchus wrestles playfully with a satyr in a moment of drunken abandon; a nude woman straddles a man in bed, rendered with tender intimacy; Apollo seizes a nymph, having cast aside his bow, his laurel crown glowing with divine resolve; and Silenus, ever the mischief-maker, attempts to seduce the elusive Hermaphrodite.
Delvaux’s engravings capture both the sensuality and classical elegance of the original works, rendered with extraordinary finesse. Framed and preserved, they offer a rare glimpse into the complexities of ancient Roman sexuality, mythology, and aesthetics—filtered through the 19th-century lens of rediscovery and romanticism. A compelling addition for collectors of classical antiquity, rare books, or the art of the forbidden.
EACH: 10 in. W x 1 in. D x 10 in. H