AN ILLUSTRTATED LECTURE BY SARAH DUNANT

This lovely young woman was painted by Titian in 1534 in Venice in the setting of his own house.  Among the many reasons the paintings is important is the fact that she is the first naked woman in the history of post Christian art to be looking directly at the viewer.  Aren't I lovely? She seems to be saying. How would you like to know me better?  Though the painting is now known as The Venus of Urbino, recent history has told us that the model was actually a courtesan.

In an age where the church demanded celibacy but turned a blind eye to chastity, and where rich high-class men married late to virginal women who they were not expected to be faithful to, where did all that excess male testosterone go? The answer is courtesans: women as cultured, clever and fashionable as they were lovely. This lecture tells their stories, with some wonderful images to match.  

Sarah’s novel: In the Company of the Courtesan, featuring this very woman was a New York Times best seller and has been translated into 30 languages