Phoebe Fay's wonderful post about orgasms reminded me of this gorgeous work from the Musee D'Orsay. It is Femme piquée par un serpent (woman pricked by a snake) made by Auguste Clesinger in 1847.
This sculpture caused a sensation, a scandale if you will, when it was first shown. A naked woman writhes in ecstasy, a small snake wound around one wrist. Auguste tells us by his title that the girl has been stung by the snake, and that this is the cause of her posture. Yet such is the erotic power of the work that we understand he has captured her at the moment of her orgasm.
Even the resting art lovers in my photograph are instinctively responding to the work. Just look at those curling toes.
13 comments:
Now there's a Reptile Woman if ever I saw one!
Oh my. That must've been one helluva snake! I wonder what color she's seeing.
anaglyph: If Icke had mentioned writhing orgasms, he may have gotten more followers.
pheebs: All of them.
Some la Femme get th O from th serpent. Othrs get it from th piquée.
Touché.
Mighty powerful orgasm for such a tiny snake. Where can I get one ... or two?
OBSCENITY! GET THE TORCHES!
Are you suggesting that now we know why Mona Lisa was smiling?
Touché WHAT?
Be specifick.
sara sue: Make like Cleopatra and clasp an asp to your bosom.
malach: Lighting not quite bright enough?
colonel: Come now. You know that La Giaconda is a self-portrait of the artist.
joey: Must I spell out every little thing?
Nice catch about the toes...
Funnily enough I found your blog on a saved search for devil articles (which appears later on your site), then I find myself staring at a photo from Musee D'Orsay of a sculpture I also photographed some years ago.
If the work is truly about orgasm, then only one of the seven students pictured in this photo sees the lighter side...
Femme piquée par un serpent - a different perspective.
Chris.
Thanks for that Chris. But the link doesn't seem to be working. Can you try again?
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