‘Lysistrata haranguing the Athenian women’, by Aubrey Beardsley

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Lysistrata haranguing the Athenian women

Aubrey Beardsley

Photo-mechanical reproduction of a pen and ink drawing

10 x 7 inches

The Lysistrata of Aristophanes.

This shows the moment when Lysistrata is trying to persuade the Athenian women to withhold their sexual favours. [Commentary continues below.]

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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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This lewd design foregrounds the play’s sexual theme by showing the women undressed while emphasising their physical imperfections: rightly speaking, they are naked rather than nude. The comic-strip eroticism is stressed by the way in which the central figure reaches towards her companion’s pubic hair – a detail included for no other reason but to shock and titillate. The illustration typifies the artist’s version of Art Nouveau, combining a sinuous line with absolute contrasts of black and white, with the sparseness of the style being contradicted, at the same time, by the elaborate swags of Lysistrata’s costume. This juxtaposition points to the design’s construction around the idea of opposites – naked/dressed, black/white, young/old, commanding and dignified/vulgar and salacious.

Bibliography

The Lysistrata of Aristophanes. London [Leonard Smithers], 1896.

Created 1 March 2021