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Absent Love in Pleasure Houses. Frederick II of Prussia as art collector and patron
Author(s) -
Vogtherr Christophe Martin
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
art history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8365
pISSN - 0141-6790
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8365.00262
Subject(s) - eroticism , pleasure , romance , art , variety (cybernetics) , art history , literature , psychology , sociology , gender studies , human sexuality , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence
This article examines Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam as a major example of the art collecting and patronage of Frederick II of Prussia. Depictions of love and displays of erotic bodies are analysed in terms of an arrangement – in parts deliberate – that comments on different concepts of love and eroticism. At Sanssouci, Frederick combined a variety of erotic images, mainly of women, with groups of works that reflect on unfulfilled love or express his longing for romantic male love.