Shorthand  

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Robert Filliou at the MuHKA



The ex-voto anatomici are a series of terracotta sculptures[1] (ex-votos of private parts: penises, a breast and, on the right, a womb) in a showcase in the Gabinetto Segreto (secret chamber) at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Naples. Found in a samnite sanctuary in the old town of Cales (Calvi Risorta).

At first glance these objects might be mistaken as coming from an oversexed people. But as Catherine Johns explains, these ex-votos are used to bring good luck.

"everyday sexual imagery ... are not primarily about sex, but about good luck. We know that a charm in the form of a shamrock does not allude to botany, nor does a horseshoe shaped one symbolize equestrial pursuits. The principle is the same, and the shocked and embarrassed response of Victorian scholars to Roman phallic objects missed the point." --Catherine Johns in Sex (book)

Shorthand.




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