Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-mapplethorpe-11413" aria-label="More by Robert Mapplethorpe" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Robert Mapplethorpe</a>
Cock and Devil
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
paper print photograph gelatin silver
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
2010-09-25
Towner (Eastbourne, UK)
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/
2010-09-25
ARTIST ROOMS 2010: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
Cock and Devil
support: 371 × 472 mm
frame: 644 × 720 × 38 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<p>This humorous image plays around with the Christian (and more specifically Catholic) notion of sin and the attitude towards the libido that held sway in ancient Greece and Rome. In the ancient world, satyrs (half-men, half-goats) were Dionysus’s (Bacchus’s) attendants and, as such, were given over to lechery and drink. This was seen as an essential part of life, the dionysian reality behind the apollonian mask. However, with Christianity, the satyr was turned into the Devil - the representative of all that was evil, including lust. In this photograph the satyr/Devil has bound the penis (symbol of male sexuality) and brought it under his control.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION