In the wake of the Treaty of Lodi in the 16th century, Italy was primarily responsible for awakening in the European mind a relish for the erotic. With the Medici, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga, the bright life and the libertine customs of court inspired the sublime Aretino, the impenitent rake Titian, and the malicious Sansovino to express themselves freely.
The princes of the French royal household, intimates of refined Italy, cultivated a passion for classical nude statuary on which the powerful male member is paired with the callipygian curves of Venus. All of Europe eased its tenseness.
