# Animals (Erotic and Otherwise) in Art

Art Appreciation for Zoophiles -- NEW! May 27, 1998
  This is actually part of an ad for a porn site, but it is so cool, I had to include it here. It has a number of classic paintings and drawings (esp. mythological) I hadn't seen before. In August 1998, they added Art Appreciation for Zoophiles II, which has even more images.

  Anatomically-Correct Animal Statues in Boston, Massachusetts:

  An ad in MacWorld magazine for a conference in Boston shows a statue of Paul Revere riding a horse, which appears to be a stallion, though it's dimly lit.

  Anatomically-Correct Animal Statues in New York City:

  In the financial district, there is a large bronze bull at the north tip of Battery Park. In 1995, its scrotum had been fondled enough that the bronze patina had been rubbed off. The statue (or at least that part) was eventually re-bronzed.

  In the southeast corner of Central Park, past the Central Park Wildlife Sanctuary, is an arch with a clock encircled by bronze animals who dance when the clock strikes the hour and the half. Among them are an anatomically-correct goat and bear. A few yards north of the clock is a petting zoo with a bronze gate topped with two more dancing male goats with scrotums and raised tails.

  The bronze statue of Balto (recently depicted in the animated movie) is just north of the zoo. It does have a sheath, which, like the bull, had lost some of its patina, but there's no hint of a scrotum.

  Next to the Zoo Cafe at the Central Park Zoo is a life-size statue of another male goat, standing up on his hind legs and sticking his tongue out as though in a flehmen response. He has a full scrotum and sheath.

  Past the southeast corner of Central Park is the gilded gold effigy of General William Tecumsah Sherman atop his stallion. Needless to say, it has a full scrotum, and an unusually realistic sheath.

  In front of the American Museum of Natural History is another equestrian statue, of Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy's horse isn't nearly as nice as Sherman's mount, but he's just as male.

  Anatomically-Correct Animal Statues in Portland, Oregon:

  Somewhere in downtown Portland, there is a statue of an intact bronze bull elk. It's old enough to have some leaks, so every once in a while they have to drain the water out of it. As if in tribute to humorists and zoos everywhere, the drain hole appears to be where the sheath opening would be, so...you guessed it. :)

  Listings by Artist (where known):

Alberola, Jean-Michel. 1907 (bronze sculpture, 1985).
  This bronze depicts the back end of a stallion, with very prominent testes (I don't know how accurate it is from the front). There used to be a picture on the 'net, but the link disappeared before I thought to save the image; many thanks to "S" for sending me a copy of the .gif.
Boberg, Jorgen. Teresa's Dream Of Conception. -- NEW! May 27, 1998
  Thanks to an anonymous reader who wrote, "This drawing...was done in the 1960s and was part of his Teresa series.... It is thought that he was infatuated with the 16th-century mystic figure, Teresa of Avila."
Calder, Alexander. Rearing Stallion (wire sculpture, 1928).
  Yes, Calder shaped wire into the form of testes and what looks like a penis. Good going, Alexander. :) This artwork is also on a stamp issued by the U.S. in 1998.
Dali, Salvador. (title unknown) -- NEW! May 27, 1998
  An uncharacteristically realistic, yet still strange, drawing of a woman, a lion, a bull, a dog, a sheep (I think), a frog, and a bird, engaged in sexual acts with each other. Few people have seen this one.
Gericault, Theodore. Mounted Officer of the Imperial Guard (oil on canvas, 1812) -- NEW! October 5, 1997
  A direct rear-end view of a stallion's anus and testes.
Gericault, Theodore. Riderless Races at Rome -- NEW! October 5, 1997
  Several horses, at least one of which has prominent testes. This scan is very dark: if you see a clearer one, let me know. Thanks to Caiman Crocodilus for this link.
Gericault, Theodore. Sketch for the Riderless Races (1817) -- NEW! October 5, 1997
  Another stallion, with visible anus and testes. Another very dark scan. Thanks to Caiman Crocodilus for this link.
Marc, Franz. Little Blue Horses (1912) -- NEW! October 5, 1997
  A blue horse on a floral background. Very suggestive. Something is hanging below him, and it looks like his penis, but on closer inspection it's part of a tree trunk in the background. Thanks to Caiman Crocodilus for this link, and to TruePuma for clearing it up a little.
Muledeer, Randy. The Art of Randy Muledeer
  A skilled and commissionable furry artist, specializing in animal erotica and furotica.
O'Rourke, Tim. The Art of TOR
  A skilled wildlife and furry artist, with numerous erotic anthropomorphic and animal paintings/drawings. He is accepting commissions.
Rembrandt. Landscape with the Good Samaritan (oil? painting)
  I haven't seen this painting yet, but I hear there's a dog defecating somewhere.
Qing Castiglione, Giuseppe act. Presenting of Superior Horses - horses like Clouds in the Embroidered Sky (China silk hanging scroll) -- NEW! October 5, 1997
  Eight horses. The one at the lower left is rolling, and his sheath is strongly hinted at. I need to see a larger version of this. Thanks to Caiman Crocodilus for this link.
Uccello, Paolo. Battle of San Romano cycle (tempera and foil on wood, circa 1455).
  I need a closer look at these, or a better photo, but it looks like each panel includes a rear-end view of at least one horse. A close-up of the central panel is here.
Wegman, William.
  Best-known for his delightful photography of his Weimeraners, one photo called "Lolita" depicts a female Weimeraner draped coyly over a chair, with her legs parted slightly, exposing her vulva. Very sexy. I want an 18x24 poster of that. :)
Unknown. Cover art for "Dude Ranch," an album by the musical group Blink 182. -- NEW! June 23, 1998
  This album cover has a painting of the rear view of a bull, with prominent scrotum.
Unknown. The Battle of Issus or Battle of Alexander and the Persians (1st-century B.C. floor mosaic from Pompeii).
  Not a pleasant subject, for there are numerous fallen horses, but we do get another excellent rear-end view of a rearing stallion.
Unknown. Hercules (Herakles/Heracles) and Telephus (Telephos/Telaphus/Telaphos) (wall painting from Herculaneum, circa 70 A.D.).
  In the lower left-hand corner, the infant Telephus is shown suckling from a doe deer. A variant, showing Telephos being suckled by a lioness, is here.
Unknown. The Bayeux Tapestry (embroidered frieze, circa 1073-83 A.D., portraying the Battle of Hastings).
  Again, the fallen horses and soldiers make this a less than appealing portrait, but most of the horses are stallions, and are often shown with partial extrusions.
Unknown. Romulus and Remus (various forms).
  These two infants, who grew up to be the founders of Rome, are shown being nursed by a shewolf. (Nice work if you can get it. :) The bronze sculpture is the most famous depiction of them, but they're also shown in paintings and other works. Thanks to Ziiraal for the links.
Unknown. A gold necklace of Scythian origin, date and sculptor unknown.
  A kindly reader sent me a .jpg of a detail of this item, and reported it was from an issue of National Geographic (issue unknown). On the necklace is an embossed image of a mare; her tail is raised and her anus and vulva are exposed. The amazing thing is that this image is approximately half an inch long. Now _that's_ attention to detail. :)
Unknown. Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn (logo, modern).
  I met a man wearing a baseball cap depicting two mating polar bears. It's an advertisement for "Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn," a bar/tavern/motel of some sort at Mile 328 Parks Hwy, somewhere in Alaska. Someone check into this, please, and if possible, bring me a hat. :)
Unknown.
  I met someone with a "Nature's Gift" keychain from Cabo Sn. Lucas in Mexico; it had cartoon dogs mating on one side, and cartoon horses engaging in oral sex on the reverse. The art was pretty lousy, but it was interesting.

# Actaeon and other Transformation Myths in Art & Literature

In Classical Paintings
In Classical Sculpture
In Greek Mythology
In Modern Works

Other Classical Myths of Interest
Europa and the Bull
Leda and the Swan

(all art links verified 1/31/97)

## Actaeon in Paintings

- Alciato. Emblem 52 from his Book of Emblems. Another of (presumably) his emblems is here, along with a poem in Ye Olde English. Too bad I never studied Ye. :)

- Baur, Johannes. A 1703 engraving for Ovid's Metamorphoses, depicting Actaeon being brought down by his hounds.

- Chavarria, Enrique. "Acteon and Artemis." [LINK MISSING AS OF 1/31/97]

- de Troy. Diana at her bath sacrificing Actaeon with Moon Crown suspended.

- Fletcher, Carlton. "Diana and Acteon."

- Galloche, Louis. "Diana and Actaeon" (1725 or 1732). A smaller copy is here.

- Klossowski, Pierre. A pencil drawing of Diana and Actaeon "getting it on."

- Parmigianino. The original painting which appears on my home page, except that version has been jazzed up by BarnSide, using Adobe Photoshop. Cool!

- Regius. "Actaeon and Diana and dogs," a medieval line drawing.

- Seligmann, Kurt. "Acteon," pl. VI from "The Brunidor Portfolio No. One." (1993) It's kinda weird, and it doesn't look a lot like Actaeon, but what the hey: a larger version is here.

- Titian. "Diana and Actaeon". Additional scans are here, here and here.

- Titian. "The Death of Actaeon." A better rendition is here.

- Vallejo, Boris. "Diana and Actaeon." The accompanying text begins: "Boris evidently felt it better, aesthetically, to have Diana shoot the creature than to have dogs rip it apart." Unfortunately, the creature over which Diana and her horse stand is only partially visible, and looks more like a dragon than a stag: it has short, curved horns instead of antlers, and its skin is green, not brown or gray. Perhaps it's clearer in the original painting (this one seems cropped). Still, it's nice, as is all of Boris' work. Another Vallejo painting depicts Diana transforming Actaeon into a stag.

## Actaeon in Sculpture

- Lentz, Jon Warren. The Actaeon Glass Series - Story View -- a set of sand-carved glass panels.

- Manship, Paul. A "Actaeon (#1)". A close-up is here. It is also on exhibit at the White House, and is shown here from a different angle.

- Pan Painter. A bell krater (a type of painted Greek vase). Only thumbnails are shown here; the larger images are available only to students at the university. However, another university has a public copy.

- Persico, Paolo. The Fontana di Diana e Atteone (Fountain of Diana and Actaeon) at the Royal Palace at Caserta, in Italy. More detailed info is here; a close-up of Actaeon is here. [I was unable to get through to this site on 1/31/96.]
  Video-still close-ups of Actaeon (off a laserdisk) may be seen here (this one's sideways for some reason), here (great closeup of Actaeon himself), and here (A dog about to dig in). Since my last visit, the site hosting these video close-ups has gone to the pay system, so only thumbnails are still free. Wish I'd snagged the big ones when I had the chance.

- Quasius, Sharon. "Acteon," 1994, Concrete & Glass, 7' tall.

- Unknown. An ancient Greek vase depicting the death of Actaeon.

- Unknown. An ancient (ca. 470-460 BC) temple carving depicting the death of Actaeon.

- Unknown. Sculptures of the antlered Celtic god Kernunnos, available from the JBL Catalog: Kernunnos Of Ste. Germaine, Kernunnos Of Gundesrup, and Kernunnos Of Reims.

- Wemmersz, Jacob. A Dutch Delftware dish from the Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

## Actaeon in Greek Mythology

- To quote from J. E. Zimmerman's Dictionary of Classical Mythology (Bantam, New York, 1964), Actaeon (pronounced `/ak tee' on/`) was "The hunter who made Artemis angry when he saw her naked at the river's edge and stayed to watch her bathe. She changed him into a stag, and he was devoured by his own hounds." References: Metamorphoses iii; Pausanias ix.

- There is a modernized interpretation of the legend in Bulfinch's Mythology. Be warned, though: this is a 491K file, and the Diana and Actaeon bit is about a tenth of the way through it. I may copy that portion of it at some point and include it here. A shorter version (although still part of a larger collection) can be found here.

- A translation of Ovid's Metamophoses III into a rhymed poem.

- A modern text of the legend, translated from Ovid by Pierre Klossoski.

### About Artemis/Diana

Artemis was known to the Romans as Diana, and to others as Cynthia, Delia, Hecate, Luna, Phoebe, Selene, and Trivia. She was "Daughter of Zeus by Leto (Latona); twin sister of Apollo. The moon goddess and goddess of hunting. Also goddess of childbirth, as Lucina (Roman). Patroness of unmarried girls and of chastity. She fell in love with Endymion. Changed Actaeon into a stag. Stories of her used by many English poets: Byron, Drayton, T.S. Eliot, Keats, Lyly, Milton, Spenser; scores of allusions to her in Shakespeare." References: Aeneid i; Apollodorus i; Metamorphoses iii; Odyssey v; Pausanias viii; Homeric Hymns.

## Actaeon in Modern Literary Works

- A collection of poems, including one on Actaeon.

##
Other Myths of Interest

Here's a collection of links (in no particular order) concerning various other myths and legends which may appeal to zoos. Right now, I have two on Zeus' exploits, first seducing Europa in the form of a bull, then seducing Leda in the form of a swan. I will add other myths as I discover them. Why are these on a page for Actaeon? The story of Actaeon is only one of many Greek and Roman myths in which a god changes himself or a mortal into an animal. I think I speak for a great many zoos when I say that the idea of being able to turn oneself into an animal and back again is very appealing, especially if you can experience that animal's sexual nature while inside its body.

### Europa and the Bull

- Jean Baptiste, Pierre. "The Rape of Europa," a 1759 painting.

- Manship, Paul. "Flight of Europa," a modern sculpture. Larger version here.

- Regius. A medieval pencil sketch from Ovid's Metamorphoses Book II.

- Rubens. "The Rape of Europa," a classical painting.

- Titian. "The Rape of Europa."

### Leda and the Swan

- Behan, John. A modern bronze.

- Boucher, Francois. "Leda and the Swan," a 1742 painting.

- Dali, Salvador. "Leda Atomica." A modern interpretation of the legend. Thanks to an alert websurfer for clueing me in on who painted it. :)

- Da Vinci, Leonardo. A "Leda and the swan and Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra and Helen." A different treatment of the subject by the same artist is here.

- Giovanni, Dalumba. "Leda and the Swan," a 1510 engraving. Like the Actaeon video stills, this is only a thumbnail now.

- Huey, Mary Paige. "Leda and the Swan," a 1992 alabaster stone carving.

- Nakian, Rueben. "Leda and the Swan with Cupid," a 1959 brush and ink drawing (appears about 2/3 of the way down the page). A close-up is here.

- Post, Christine Kowal. "Leda and the swan with attendant path," a modern wood sculpture. Larger version here.

- Unknown. A 2nd-century Roman marble statue.

- Unknown. A fairly dim photograph of a 2nd cent. A.D. sarcophagus (of the family of Herodes Atticus) in Attica.

- Wong Shue, Adrian. "Leda Seduced" (modern). Larger version here. [This link appears down as of 1/31/97.]

### Other

- Bernini, Gian Lorenzo. "The Goat Amalthea Nursing the Infant Zeus," a 1615 sculpture.
- Corregio. Jupiter and Io. Another classic seduction myth, this time with Jupiter in the form of a cloud.
- Raphael. Galatea (fresco, 1513). "The beautiful nymph Galatea, vainly pursued by Polyphemus."

### Contributions are welcome: E-mail Actaeon

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