Heinrich Lossow, The Sin, 1880⁠⠀

Lossow was a German genre painter who created pornography in his spare time. This painting references the Banquet of Chestnuts, the famous orgy held at the Vatican on Oct 30, 1501. The banquet was hosted by former Cardinal Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI. The MC of the party, Johann Burchard, wrote about it in his diary, saying that naked courtesans crawled around between candelabras, picking up chestnuts with their mouths. Then prizes were awarded to banquet guests who had sex the most times. Why Lossow painted this scene in reference to the orgy and not one of courtesans and chestnuts, we’ll never know.⁠

13 Comments

Add Yours →

It’s hypocritical. The majority of the people that would work in the Vatican would be those that swore an oath of chastity.

Beyond those people, the Catholic Church generally opines about modesty, and virtue.

While I agree, this is not an example of corruption. It’s definitely another example of hypocrisy.

The position looks kinda athletic to me, the nun must have been a cheerleader in her youth 🙂

I am an artist and I admire the art.As far as the church goes..there is too much controversy,hypocrisy and just plaine confusion.I must say,that priest gas a very Satanic stare to him.

Leave a Reply