Erotic helplessness : a study of the history of the Damsel in Distress theme in art

[supplice]

José de Brito, Martyr of Fanaticism, c. 1895

Having browsed through some of the thread, I restarted at page 1. I came across this inquisition scene of a poor damsel in great distress. There is evidently a fire being stoked under her hind quarters and some gruesome underling is about to entertain her feet with a hot iron - or maybe a "plate" as was used in ancient Rome. It is always good to have a choice for seared flesh, I guess.
She is a pretty woman, and has nice breasts. I suppose the iron can be reheated.

 

[vadim69]

the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian student Gavrilo Princip.

 

[supplice]

the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian student Gavrilo Princip.

Not sure about "Erotic Helplessness," but the events of June 28, 1914 sort of mark the end of civilized history IMO. By August nearly every power was at war, and the twentieth century was a butcher's yard with something like 100,000,000 people killed for ideological futility. The years 1914 - 1945 were probably the worst in history.

 

[mysterybadger]

Marian Wawrzeniecki. She produced quite a few drawings of maidens suffering or being sacrificed in a pre-Christian pagan context...

Marian lives so far up our street he could take in our Amazon deliveries when we're out and water our plants when we go away.
Particular love for the well-endowed wooden horsey in the last one.





Not only that but he wrote Bloody specters, curious trials, tortures and strange executions (1909: sadly unillustrated and only available in a scanned, Polish version). This contains (among other things) accounts of the trial, torture, burning and customary pre-burning-rape-by-executioner of a score or more of beautiful young Polish girls accused of witchcraft. These were allegedly based on old documents found in Polish churches but were in fact the product of his own perverted imagination. Even better his sexual fantasies were taken as fact and cited by serious historians. So he was before his time in so many ways.
But you do have to wonder when he stopped using a swastika as his middle initial.

 

[Loxuru]

the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian student Gavrilo Princip.

Not sure about "Erotic Helplessness," but the events of June 28, 1914 sort of mark the end of civilized history IMO. By August nearly every power was at war, and the twentieth century was a butcher's yard with something like 100,000,000 people killed for ideological futility. The years 1914 - 1945 were probably the worst in history.

I think indeed that "Milestones" would be a more appropriate thread for this.
Detail : in reality, the Archduke was sitting on the left handside of the car, his wife on the right side, closest to Princip. And hence in the latter's line of fire.

Years ago, I posted a story, where, in the course of the plot, the lead character gets involved in an assassination conspiracy against a high ranked Austrian Archduke. For that scene, I took inspiration from the Sarajevo assassination.
https://www.cruxforums.com/xf/threads/queen-of-chaos.6405/

 

[vadim69]

Lady Jane Gray in the Tower" William Frederick Yeames

 

[vadim69]

Marie-Therese de Lamballe. . She was torn to pieces by the crowd, and then the severed head, pomaded and curled, was carried through Paris to be shown through bars to Queen Marie Antoinette.

 

[Shamefan]

Some illustrations by Lilian Gourari from De Sade’s Justine (Les Infortunes de la vertu.) Possibly the classic Damsel in Distress.