Where Is Pornokrates? See It at Musée Félicien Rops

Q: What does Pornokrates mean?

The title translates as "ruler of fornication." Rops borrowed it from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's 1875 anti-feminist tract. The painting symbolizes sensuality's triumph over classical art and traditional values.

Q: Where can I see Pornokrates?

The work hangs at the Musée Félicien Rops in Namur, Belgium, dedicated to the artist. It's his most famous piece and a key work of Symbolist art.

Q: Who created Pornokrates?

Félicien Rops made this work in 1878 when he was 45 and living in Paris. He belonged to the Cercle des XX and contributed to the Belgian Symbolist movement.

Q: What style is this painting?

Pornokrates exemplifies Symbolism, using allegory to express psychological conflicts. The blindfolded female figure led by a pig represents base desires dominating over reason.

Working in watercolor and pastel on paper, Félicien Rops created this provocative image in 1878 using watercolor and pastel on paper. A blindfolded woman in black stockings, gloves, and plumed hat walks a pig on a leash across a marble stage. Below her, grey classical figures representing sculpture, music, literature, and painting look on in despair.

Three winged putti flee in tears above the scene. The title translates as "the ruler of fornication," drawn from an 1875 anti-feminist tract by Proudhon. Rops envisioned the modern woman as a femme fatale whose sensuality triumphs over the fine arts. The work caused scandal at an 1886 exhibition. Now at the Musée Félicien Rops in Namur, Belgium.

The title translates as "ruler of fornication." Rops borrowed it from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's 1875 anti-feminist tract. The painting symbolizes sensuality's triumph over classical art and traditional values.

The work hangs at the Musée Félicien Rops in Namur, Belgium, dedicated to the artist. It's his most famous piece and a key work of Symbolist art.

Félicien Rops made this work in 1878 when he was 45 and living in Paris. He belonged to the Cercle des XX and contributed to the Belgian Symbolist movement.

Pornokrates exemplifies Symbolism, using allegory to express psychological conflicts. The blindfolded female figure led by a pig represents base desires dominating over reason.

Pornokrates

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Félicien Rops

Study for The Temptation of St. Anthony

Behind the Scenes

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Lemminkäinen's Mother

Boy with a Crow

About Pornokrates

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