The Tale of Phyllis and Aristotle was a popular medieval legend from the early 12th century, in which the great philosopher is overcome by a "dominatrix" and ridden while being whipped, demonstrating the conquering power of "a woman's charms" over the intellects of men.
(Above: c. 1600 - Bartholomeus Spranger)
The story was very popular with artists from the 15th & 16th centuries, and depictions appear in sculptures, carvings, tapestries, stained glass, and especially engravings.
(Below: 1525 - Lucas van Leyden, 1485 - Master of the Housebook)
1515 - Hans Baldung Grien
1520 - Hans Burgkmair the Elder
1545 - Georg Pencz
Just came across a fabulous trove of covers and database info for Fantagraphics Books' Eros Comix imprint, which published dozens of kinky, fetishistic, and otherwise erotic comic books throughout the 90s and early 00s.
In 1954, Superman co-creator Joe Shuster illustrated 16 issues of a fetish comic series called Nights of Horror, which featured Clark Kent and Lois Lane lookalikes caught up in terrible bondage predicaments.
Shuster had been involved in a dispute with DC Comics over compensation for Superman, and when the court ruled in DC’s favor he was left nearly broke. A neighbor offered him Nights of Horror and he accepted.
The publication was brought up on obscenity charges in 1954, blaming it for a streak of juvenile delinquency and violence in New York City. Its distribution was banned and copies were seized for destruction.
Illustration for “Les Chansons de Bilitis” (1922) - George Barbier
The Songs of Bilitis is a collection of 143 erotic lesbian poems published in 1894 by French writer Pierre Louÿs, who claimed he had translated them from Ancient Greek but had, in fact, invented them himself.
Louÿs (1870-1925), also known for his 1896 novel Aphrodite, was a renowned and celebrated writer in his time, and was made an Officer in the Légion d'honneur for his contributions to French literature.
John William Waterhouse (British, 1849-1917) was a late Pre-Raphaelite painter whose work revolved around historical and mythological figures from antiquity and the medieval periods, along with scenes from their worlds.
Waterhouse’s women, like his worlds, possess a mythic, lyrical quality, expressive and dramatic in any form or pose.