Below is a collection of artworks that relate to or represent femdom, kink, and fetish themes. With the early works many of these themes are more subtle and implicit, though naturally they become more overt as we reach the mid-19th century. The goal of this collection is to establish and recognize the historical continuity of things that are commonly expressed today through the practice of BDSM.
Phyllis & Aristotle (16th c.)
Bartholomeus Spranger
Depiction of the seductress Phyllis riding Aristotle, “proving that a woman’s charms could overcome even the greatest philosopher’s male intellect.” The story is believed to have originated in the early 13th century.
Read more about The Tale of Phyllis and Aristotle
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Allegory of Peace, Art, and Abundance (1602)
Hans von Aachen
Allegory of Victory (1635)
Le Nain Brothers
The Bath of Diana (1635-1640)
Peter Paul Rubens
The Roman goddess Diana is often shown bathing, with an attendant at her feet. See other depictions here.
Bronze sculpture (c. 1640-1662)
Leonhard Kern
Wrestling matches between scantily clad women (and between other kinds of opponents) were a form of court entertainment in 17th c. Italy.
Bronze sculpture (c. 1650-1690)
Ferdinando Tacca
Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654)
Rembrandt
The biblical figure Bathsheba is also often similarly depicted (see below).
A Lady with a servant washing her feet (1690-1700)
Johannes Voorhout
Allegory on the Vanity of Life (c. 1700)
Andreas von Behn
Pagamangalam, “Auspicious foot“ (c. 1700)
Unknown
Bathsheba at Her Bath (1725)
Sebastiano Ricci
The Toilet of Psyche (1735)
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Justice Punishing Injustice (1737)
Jean-Marc Nattier
Diana Leaving Her Bath (1742)
François Boucher
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A young woman on a canopied bed… (1749)
Kasam, Son of Gul Muhammad
Bather (1750)
Torii Kiyomitsu
Two Women Bathing (1763)
Joseph-Marie Vien
Study of a Woman (1802)
Marie-Denise Villers
Les Tribades. Une premiere lecon (c. 1830)
Unknown
Goddess Drawing a Bow (c. 1832)
Katsushika Taito II
Bathsheba in the Bath (1834)
Francesco Hayez
Offering a Replacement (1840)
Achille Devéria
Lesbians using a harikata [dildo] (1840)
Utagawa Kunisada
Depuis que Virginie a obtenu la septième accessit…
Les Bas-blues, no. 24 (1844)
Honoré Daumier
Diana’s Toilet (1847)
Alexey Venetsianov
Bather Sleeping Near a Spring (1850)
Théodore Chassériau
Rosine at Her Dressing Table (1850)
Antoine Wiertz
Amazon Preparing for Battle (c. 1860)
Pierre-Eugène-Emile Hébert
La Femme aux bas blancs (1864)
Gustave Courbet
For more on Courbet and his nude works, see our article Was Gustave Courbet the First Modern Pornographer?
Shunga with Tengu mask (before 1865)
Unknown
Andromeda (1869)
Edward Poynter
La Toilette (1869-1870)
Frédéric Bazille
Drawing from the Her Faithful Servant series (c. 1870s)
Heinrich Lossow
Illustration for La Roman de Violette (1870)
Frédillo
The Foot-Bath (c. 1870)*
After Antoine-Émile Plassan
After the Bath (1875)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Bather After the Bath (1875)
Andrei Belloli
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A Reclining Lady with a Fan (1876)
Eleuterio Pagliani
Illustrations for Ariosto’s “Orlando Furioso” (1877)
Gustave Doré
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The Nymphaeum (1878)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
L’étude (1878-1881)
Félicien Rops
Le muscle du grand couturier (c. 1878-1881)
Félicien Rops
La Pose (1879)
Luis Ricardo Falero
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The Bather (1879)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
![Kasuga no Tsubone [Lady Kasuga fighting a robber] (c. 1880) - Adachi Ginko](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kasuga_no_Tsubone_(c._1880).jpg)
Kasuga no Tsubone [Lady Kasuga fighting a robber] (c. 1880)
Adachi Ginkō
![E [Letter from an erotic alphabet] (c. 1880) - Joseph Apoux](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nineteenth-century_erotic_alphabet_E.jpg)
E [Letter from an erotic alphabet] (c. 1880)
Joseph Apoux
La Grande Iza (1882)
Vlaho Bukovac
The New Bracelet (before 1883)
Henryk Siemiradzki
The Sorceress (1883)
Georges Merle
Slave’s Song (1884)
Henryk Siemiradzki
A Beauty (1885)
Luis Ricardo Faléro
Sappho (c. 1885)
Miquel Carbonell i Selva
The Reading Girl (1886)
Théodore Roussel
The Magic Circle (1886)
John William Waterhouse
Two Ladies on a Sofa (1887)
Luis Ricardo Faléro
Women of Amphissa (1887)
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Bathsheba (1887)
Paul Cézanne
Empress Theodora (1887)
Jean-Joseph Benajmin-Constant
Circé (1889)
Émile Lévy
Victory of Faith (1889)
Saint George Hare
Diana (1890)
Kenyon Cox
Equestrienne au Cirque Fernando (c. 1890)
François Flameng
Jeune Femme délaçant ses chaussures (c. 1890)
Antoine-Émile Plassan
At the Spring (c. 1890)
Henryk Siemiradzki
An Illicit Letter (late 1800s)
Vittorio Reggianini
Andromeda (c. 1890)
Vlaho Bukovac
Cleopatra (c. 1890)
Mosè Bianchi
Daydreams (1890)
Auguste Toulmouche
Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus (1891)
John William Waterhouse
Unknown (c. 1890-1911)
Unknown artist
Unknown (c. 1890-1911)
Unknown artist
Priestess of Delphi (1891)
John Collier
Turkish Women (1893)
Ferdinand Max Bredt
Nude Apparition Appears to Seated (1894)
Emmanuel Benner the Younger
Illustration for Earl Lavender (1895)
Aubrey Beardsley
Sketched Nude with Tied Wrists (1898)
Byam Shaw
The Inopportune (1898)
José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior
The Hookah Lighter (1898)
Jean-Léon Gérôme
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The Delphic Oracle (1899)
John William Godward
La Clariere (1900)
Julius LeBlanc Stewart
Nude Model Reading (c. 1900)
Julius Rolshoven
The Gates of Dawn (1900)
Herbert James Draper
Cunnilingus (1900)
Mihàly Zichy
La Monnaie française (1901)
Fernand Le Quesne
Tannhäuser in Venusberg (1901)
John Collier
Les Oreades (1902)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Samson and Delilah (1902)
Max Liebermann
Wasserschlangen I – The Hydra (1904-1907)
Gustav Klimt
Illustrations for La Grande Danse macabre des vifs (1905)
Martin van Maële
Le Trône de Paon (c. 1905)
Michel Richard-Putz
La Levée (1905)
Joseph Caraud
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Illustration for De Figuris Veneris (1906)
Édouard-Henri Avril
Illustrations for Trilogie Érotique (1907)
Martin van Maële
The Gilded Cage (1908)
Saint George Hare
Illustration for Gamiani (1908)
Alfred de Musset
The Worship of Ashtoreth (1908)
H. G. Riviere
Self-Confidence (1909)
Ferdinand Max Bredt
Seated female nude with blue garter (1910)
Egon Schiele
The Valkyrie’s Vigil (c. 1910)
Edward Robert Hughes
Love (c. 1911)
Mihàly Zichy
By Summer Seas (1912)
Herbert James Draper
Illustrations for Les Malheurs de Colette (1914)
Eric Galton
Woman with Green Turban (1914)
Egon Schiele
Just Finished Reading a Novel (c. 1918)
Delphin Enjolras
Nude (c. 1920)
Marcel René von Herrfeldt
Unknown title (1920s-1930s)
Georges Topfer
Illustration for La Rêve d’un flagellant (1921)
Georges Topfer
Illustrations for Notre-Dame de Lesbos (1924)
G. Smit
Illustrations for La Comtesse au Fouet (1926)
Martin van Maële
Illustration for Cydalise (1930)
Jean de Sauteval (a.k.a. Jean Morisot)
Illustration for Dresseuses d’Hommes (1931)
Jim Black (Luc Lafnet)
Entre Femmes (c. 1932)
Paul-Émille Bécat
Ladies’ Night (1932)
Paul-Émille Bécat
Illustration from Joujou, ou Les Libertinages du travesti (1936)
Herric (a.k.a. Chéri Hérouard)
Illustration for Françoise, ou les plaisirs du mariage (1937)
Rojan (a.k.a Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky)
Illustrations for Pantalons Sans Défense (1938)
Chéri Hérouard
Illustration for Gamiani, ou Deux Nuits d’Excès (c. 1940)
Louis Berthomme Saint-André
Cubiculum (1950)
Fortunino Matania
* = Courtesy of Wellcome Images
