I Modi - WikiHQ

thumb|255x255px|These nine fragments cut from seven engravings are thought to be by Agostino Veneziano.

I Modi (The Ways), also known as The Sixteen Pleasures or under the Latin title De omnibus Veneris Schematibus, is a famous erotic book of the Italian Renaissance that had engravings of sexual scenes. They were thought to have been created around 1524 to 1527.

There are now no known copies of the first two editions of I modi.

One idea that is speculated is that Giulio drew the figures while Marcantonio designed the settings.

Another idea is that this collaboration occurred when Giulio Romano was doing a series of erotic paintings as a commission for Federico II Gonzaga’s new Palazzo Te in Mantua and Marcantonio Raimondi based the engravings for I modi on these paintings.

It has also been speculated that the images in I modi may have been inspired by Ancient Roman spintria tokens and it is speculated that Giulio Romano may have seen spintria tokens.

I modi was then published a second time in 1527, now with the sonnets that have given them the traditional English title Aretino's Postures. It is thought that this is the first time erotic text and images were combined, though the papacy once more seized all the copies it could find. It is thought Marcantonio escaped prison on this second occasion, but the suppression on both occasions was comprehensive.

There are presently no remaining copies of the first or second edition of I modi.

Agostino Veneziano copy (around 1530)

It is thought that Agostino Veneziano may have created a single replacement set of engravings for the images created by Giulio and Marcantonio in I modi. copy of I modi with crude illustrations created using woodcut relief printing is thought to copy the images of I modi that were in the Agostino Veneziano replacement copy of the work.

It is thought that this woodcut booklet is "…several generations removed from the original engravings…"

It is thought the woodblocks that were used to print the woodcut booklet may have been reused multiple times.

When the images in the woodcut booklet are compared to the engravings thought to be by Agostino it is thought they have been changed to suit the woodcut medium, with the images being square and reduced in size. The engraving shows two figures seated having sex with a wooden cradle lying on the ground next to them, and the foot of one of the figures is rocking the cradle. This second engraving has been created in reverse when compared to the image thought to be by Agostino. The sonnets were written by François-Félix Nogaret

These same sonnets by François-Félix Nogaret were published again in a book in 1869 under the same title. It is also commented in this book from 1869 that the poems in this book have been translated from the sonnets of Pietro Aretino. The text of Aretino's sonnets, however, survives.

Images from I modi copies

File:Posture 01 - Woodblock cut copy - after Marcantonio Raimondi, Giulio Romano - around 1555 - version 2.jpg|Image 1 woodcut booklet

File:Marcantonio - A nude God and Goddess laying on a bed embracing, 1857,0711.20.jpg|The corresponding image thought to be by Agostino Veneziano. Around 1530. The engravings were created by Jacques Joseph Coiny.

One theory is that these images were based on the erotic poses in The Loves of the Gods which was created at the start of the 17th century in Antwerp by Pieter de Jode I with the use of burin. It presently remains uncertain what images these engravings were based on. It is thought that Coiny had a set of six anonymous prints, and it is difficult to say which prints these were.

A second idea is that these engravings were created by Camillo Procaccini, though based on Carracci drawings, which in turn are very similar to the engravings in the edition of I modi by Giulio and Marcantonio.

Classical guise in Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures

Several factors were used to cloak these engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures in classical scholarly respectability:

The images nominally depicted famous pairings of lovers (e.g. Antony and Cleopatra) or husband-and-wife deities (e.g. Jupiter and Juno) from classical history and mythology engaged in sexual activity, and were entitled as such. Related to this were:
Portraying them with their usual attributes, such as:
Cleopatra's banquets, bottom left
Achilles's shield and helmet, bottom left
Hercules in his lion-skin and club
Mars with his cuirass
Paris as a shepherd
Bacchus with his vine-leaf crown and (bottom right) grapes
Referring to the best-known myths or historical events in which they appeared, e.g.:
Mars and Venus under the net which her husband Vulcan has designed to catch them
'Aeneas' and 'Dido' in the cave in which their sexual intercourse is alluded in Aeneid, Book 4
Theseus abandoning Ariadne on Naxos, where Bacchus finds and marries her.
The wide adultery of Julia
Messalina's participation in prostitution, as criticised in Juvenal's Satire VI.
Referring to other Renaissance and classical tropes in the depiction of these people and deities, such as
The contrast between Mars's dark hair and tanned skin and his partner Venus's untanned, fair skin and fair or even blond hair.
Jupiter's full beard
The frontispiece image is entitled Venus Genetrix, and the goddess is nude and drawn in a chariot by doves, as in the classical sources.
The bodies of those depicted show clear influences from classical statuary known at the time, such as:
The over-muscled torsos and backs of the men (drawn from sculptures such as the Laocoön and His Sons, Belvedere Torso, and Farnese Hercules).
The women's clearly defined though small breasts (drawn from examples such as the Venus de' Medici and Aphrodite of Cnidus)
The elaborate hairstyles of some of the women, such as his Venus, Juno or Cleopatra (derived from Roman Imperial era busts such as this one).
Portraying the action in a classical 'stage set' such as an ancient Greek sanctuary or temple.
The large erect penis on the statue of Priapus or Pan atop a puteal in 'The Cult of Priapus' is derived from examples in classical sculpture and painting (like this fresco) which were beginning to be found archaeologically at this time.

Differences from antique art

Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures has various points of deviation from classical literature, erotica, mythology and art which suggest its classical learning is lightly worn, and make clear its actual modern setting:

The male sexual partners' large penises (though not Priapus's) are the artist's invention rather than a classical borrowing – the idealised penis in classical art was small, not large (large penises were seen as comic or fertility symbols, as for example on Priapus, as discussed above).
The title 'Polyenus and Chryseis' pairs the fictional Polyenus with the actual mythological character Chryseis.
The title 'Alcibiades and Glycera' pairs two historical figures from different periods – the 5th-century BC Alcibiades and the 4th-century BC Glycera
Female satyrs did not occur in classical mythology, yet they appear twice in this work (in 'The Satyr and his wife' and 'The Cult of Priapus').
All the women and goddesses in this work (but most clearly its Venus Genetrix) have a hairless groin (like classical statuary of nude females) but also a clearly apparent vulva (unlike classical statuary).
The modern furniture, e.g.
The various stools and cushions used to support the participants or otherwise raise them into the right positions (e.g. here)
The other sex aids (e.g. a whip, bottom right)
The 16th-century beds, with ornate curtains, carvings, tasselled cushions, bedposts, etc.

Engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures

The images in the table below are the engravings from Augustine Carracci's The Aretin or Collection of Erotic Postures.

{| class="wikitable"

! Image

! No.

! Title (English translation)

! Male partner

! Female partner

! Sexual position

! Notes

| 50px

| 1

| Venus Genetrix

| align=center|-

| Venus Genetrix

| Female figure study of nude in frontal disposition

| align=center|-

| 50px

| 2

| Paris and Oenone

| Paris

| Oenone

| Side-by-side, man on top

| 50px

| 3

| Angelique and Medor

| Medor

| Angelique

| Reverse cowgirl

| Characters from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso

| 50px

| 4

| The satyr and the nymph

| Satyr

| Nymph

| Missionary position (man on top and standing, woman lying)

| 50px

| 5

| Julia with an athlete

| An athlete

| Julia the Elder

| Reverse cowgirl (woman standing)

| Woman guiding in penis

| 50px

| 6

| Hercules and Deianaira

| Hercules

| Deianira

| Standing missionary (woman supported by man)

| 50px

| 7

| Mars and Venus

| Mars

| Venus

| Missionary (woman on top)

| 50px

| 8

| The Cult of Priapus

| Pan, or a male satyr

| A female satyr

| Missionary (male standing, woman sitting)

| Statue of Priapus with characteristically disproportionate erection

| 50px

| 9

| Antony and Cleopatra

| Mark Antony

| Cleopatra

| Side-by-side missionary

| Woman guiding in penis

| 50px

| 10

| Bacchus and Ariadne

| Bacchus

| Ariadne

| Leapfrog - woman entirely supported

| Woman's legs up not kneeling as usual in this position

| 50px

| 11

| Polyenos and Chriseis

| Polyenos (fictional)

| Chryseis

| Missionary (man on top and standing, woman lying)

| 50px

| 12

| A satyr and his wife

| Male satyr

| Female satyr

| Missionary (man standing, woman sitting)

| 50px

| 13

| Jupiter and Juno

| Jupiter

| Juno

| Standing (man standing/kneeling, woman supported )

| 50px

| 14

| Messalina in the booth of 'Lisica'

| Brothel client

| Messalina

| Missionary (female lying, male standing)

| 50px

| 15

| Achilles and Briseis

| Achilles

| Briseis

| Standing (man entirely supporting woman)

| 50px

| 16

| Ovid and Corinna

| Ovid

| Corinna

| Missionary (man on top, woman guiding erect penis into her vagina)

| Woman deepening penetration by having her legs outside his.

| 50px

| 17

| Aeneas and Dido [accompanied by a Cupid]

| Aeneas

| Dido

| Fingering with left hand index finger (thus little nudity relative to other images)

| Lesser nudity, though wet T-shirt effect round breasts; Cupid is erect

| 50px

| 18

| Alcibiades and Glycera

| Alcibiades

| Glycera

| Missionary (man on top and standing, woman lying and legs up)

| Man also raised up to right level for vagina by right foot on step

| 50px

| 19

| Pandora

| ?Epimetheus (crowned figure)

| Pandora

| Side by side

| The boy with the candle may be a classical reference.

Erotic art in the 15th and 16th century

Drawings - Fossombrone Sketchbook - Workshop of Raphael

In the Fossombrone sketchbook, which is from the workshop of Raphael, there are two drawings that show sex between two people.

One idea is that these two drawings are based on "I modi" engravings. Further that "...these drawings while fascinatingly similar to the Modi, differ even more significantly from anything in the visual remains of those prints, as well as from each other in composition and perhaps graphic style." Maracantonio Raimondi. Fragment of a copperplate engraving. Bernard van Orley created the painting Neptune and Nymph that shows sex between a Nymph and Neptune.

In the Schifanoia Palace in Ferrara, there is a hall titled the Hall of the Months and in this hall there is a fresco cycle described as "...a sort of large calendar" that combines scenes of ancient mythology with astrological scenes. One of these frescos titled the Allegory of April shows an erotic scene in the lower left hand corner. The frescos were created by Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de’ Roberti was created that shows a nude female inside a room dropping water into a chest that contains a large heart. At the rear of the room a second person is entering and is vieweing the scene from a doorway. The painting is by an unknown lower Rhenish artist.