Ancient erotica: art through the ages

Side and front views of the Venus of Hohle Fels. At 35,000 years old, the tiny sculpture, carved in mammoth ivory, is believed to be the earliest example of figurative art yet found Photograph: H Jensen/AFP/Getty Images

The Venus of Willendorf, discovered in Austria, is believed to have been made between 22,000 and 25,000BC Photograph: Norbert Millauer/AFP

Attic red figures depict an erotic scene on an ancient Greek drinking plate. The design is attributed to the Briseis painter, sometime between 480 and 460BC Photograph: Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Tarquinia

An erotic fresco from the recently excavated suburban baths in Pompeii Photograph: Mario Laporta/Reuters

Another erotic fresco that survived the ash and lava of Pompeii Photograph: Mario Laporta/AFP

Woman and a satyr, a Roman erotic fresco from Pompeii Photograph: Mimmo Jodice/Corbis

A second-century Roman statue of Pan, the mythological figure, being intimate with a goat Photograph: Mario Laporta/Reuters

This Roman silver cup, which depicts homoerotic scenes, is known as the Warren cup. It dates back to the first century AD Photograph: The British Museum

Sleeping Hermaphroditus, a Roman, second-century copy of the original Greek statue, cast in Greek marble Photograph: Galleria Borghese

Australian Aboriginal rock painting of a man with a prominent phallus Photograph: Penny Tweedie/Corbis

This sixth-century Cham sculpture was excavated at the site of My Thuat in Vietnam Photograph: Leonard de Selva/Corbis

This piece of Mochica pottery from Peru was crafted between the first and sixth centuries AD Photograph: Massimo Borchi/Corbis

Hindu erotic carvings on the Kandariya Mahadeva temple, India, circa 1050BC Photograph: Massimo Borchi/Corbis