I modi, Plate 11: Couple on a Bench

The image features a pair of nude figures in a classical setting defined by heavy, dark curtains. The man, seen in profile, leans forward with his left arm around the woman's shoulders, his right hand guiding his erect penis toward her. The woman is seated on a bolster-style pillow on the left, her right hand braced against the cushion and her body angled toward the man, who sits on a stone bench to the right. The rendering uses monochrome gray wash and fine line work to emphasize the musculature of the figures and the folds of the heavy drapery behind them.

This work is part of Waldeck's 19th-century recreation of 'I modi', a series of erotic engravings originally designed by Giulio Romano and executed by Marcantonio Raimondi in the 16th century, which caused a major scandal and prompted papal censorship.