L’Orgia

The theme of depicting women (either with genitals concealed or without them sculpted at all) in the erotic throes of alcoholism was commonplace in European sculpture, particularly in vogue at the time when Torquato della Torre sculpted this work in 1851-54. Always a male artist, it was considered good taste to have depictions of women weakened by the forces of alcohol or religion. In a similar work by Jean-Baptiste Clesinger (1848) a Bacchante writhes in ecstasy in worshipping Bacchus, the wine god. Also similarly the notorious artist Gianlorenzo Bernini depicted women succumbing to angels and deities in a sexual manner (see The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa), where his depictions of men would be of a much mightier and sober stance. The title of the work ‘L’Orgia’ (The Orgy) immediately suggests a sexual nature of the work. She’s depicted dropping her bible, accompanied by an empty wine vessel and skull.