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
Allegory of Peace, Art, and Abundance (1602)
Hans von Aachen
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
The Toilet of Psyche (1735)
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Justice Punishing Injustice (1737)
Jean-Marc Nattier
Diana Leaving Her Bath (1742)
François Boucher
A young woman on a canopied bed… (1749)
Kasam, Son of Gul Muhammad
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
Depuis que Virginie a obtenu la septième accessit…
Les Bas-blues, no. 24 (1844)
Honoré Daumier
Diana’s Toilet (1847)
Alexey Venetsianov
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
The Bather (1874)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
A Reclining Lady with a Fan (1876)
Eleuterio Pagliani
Illustrations for Ariosto’s “Orlando Furioso” (1877)
Gustave Doré
The Nymphaeum (1878)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
L’étude (1878-1881)
Félicien Rops
Le muscle du grand couturier (c. 1878-1881)
Félicien Rops
![Kasuga no Tsubone [Lady Kasuga fighting a robber] (c. 1880) - Adachi Ginko](https://smutproject.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/eir02hnx0ae2j3y.jpeg?w=500&h=754)
Kasuga no Tsubone [Lady Kasuga fighting a robber] (c. 1880)
Adachi Ginko
![E [Letter from an erotic alphabet] (c. 1880) - Joseph Apoux](https://smutproject.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/img_2120.jpg?w=500&h=790)
E [Letter from an erotic alphabet] (c. 1880)
Joseph Apoux
La Grande Iza (1882)
Vlaho Bukovac
The New Bracelet (before 1883)
Henryk Siemiradzki
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
Two Ladies on a Sofa (1887)
Luis Ricardo Faléro
Women of Amphissa (1887)
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Circé (1889)
Émile Lévy
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
Unknown (c. 1890-1911)
Unknown artist
Unknown (c. 1890-1911)
Unknown artist
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
La Clariere (1900)
Julius LeBlanc Stewart
Nude Model Reading (c. 1900)
Julius Rolshoven
La Monnaie française (1901)
Fernand Le Quesne
Les Oreades (1902)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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
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Illustration for De Figuris Veneris (1906)
Édouard-Henri Avril
Illustration for Trilogie Érotique (1907)
Martin van Maële
The Gilded Cage (1908)
Saint George Hare
Illustration for Gamiani (1908)
Unknown artist
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
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
