‘The Lacedaemonian ambassadors’, by Aubrey Beardsley

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The Lacedaemonian

Aubrey Beardsley

Photo-mechanical reproduction of a pen and ink drawing

10 x 7 inches

The Lysistrata of Aristophanes.

A grotesque combination of male figures, with one as a classical ideal, one as a middle-aged man, and one as a dwarf.[Commentary continues below.]

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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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Beardsley's bulb-like penises bear an inverse relationship to the size of the figures, another joke that may have been appreciated by the 1000 (surely male) subscribers who purchased the book and used it, no doubt, for after-dinner entertainment.

Bibliography

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

Created 1 March 2021