02.21
ONCE UPON A TIME, long before there were naughty internet sites (or any Internet at all), there was a book called The Decameron. It was written in the 14th Century by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. The book is structured as a series of tales related by a group of seven women, and three men – sheltering in a secluded villa near Florence, to escape the Black Death. The tales are at times bawdy; and at other times, tragic.
The Decameron is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. I studied some of it as a part of my PhD along with similarly bawdy old tomes such as Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel.
But enough of all that. Being an Art Blog, this article is really about these wonderful 1950s illustrations. And, oh yes, also about my uncontrollable childhood pubescence (I blame the pics).
Long before I knew anything about it, The Decameron appeared in my life like food from the Gods. I was all but thirteen years old, and one of my mother’s friends turned up with a copy of it one day. Mum was supposed to read it I guess. But it ended up in some lonely old cupboard. I found that cupboard, and discovered the illustrative delights within the book. I basically skipped the text. I was after all, only thirteen. I fell in love with the pics. Here are but a few. 
And so, way before the Internet, there was The Decameron. And this 1954 version that fell into my lap.
My mother didn’t seem to miss it, and I have it to this day. I actually read the words these days, not just look at the pictures. Beautiful, erotic drawings by Francis J. Broadhurst (1954). It’s a wonder the publishers got away with it in the 1950s. But as a pubescent 13 year old in the early 60s, I was so glad they did.
(click on images to enlarge in HD)
