Auction listing for erotic Rembrandt etching comes with explicit-content warning

An etching created by Rembrandt more than 350 years ago has been deemed to be too explicit for open viewing by international auction house Christie’s.

“The French Bed,” drawn by the Dutch old master in 1646, is up for sale at the auctioneer’s London branch, but it can only be viewed online by those who click past a content warning.

Part of a wider collection entitled “Old Masters I” being auctioned on Thursday, the monochrome picture is hidden behind a clickable sign that reads: “EXPLICIT CONTENT. This lot contains explicit material and mature subject matter.”

Expected to sell for up to half a million dollars, the drawing depicts a couple on a four-poster bed with a canopy. The man and woman are semi-clothed and obviously rather amorous.

An essay accompanying the image on Christie’s site describes it as “one of a small number of explicitly erotic prints by Rembrandt.” It is also, the auction house says, “one of the rarest etchings in his entire oeuvre.”

The picture shows a half-empty wineglass on a bedside table and the man’s feathered hat appears to have been thrown on to one of the bed’s posts.

The woman looks at her lover with a smile, and “the perplexing fact that she has three arms and hands adds to the vivacity of the scene,” according to the essay.

It goes on to say that the etching is not “in any way crass or obscene,” describing it as “charming and light-hearted.”

So, why the warning?

Christie’s declined CNN’s request for comment on the matter, saying: “We have nothing further to add.”

British art historian Richard Morris told CNN in an email that he had not previously seen a warning of this sort on a painting, adding that it was “a good piece of marketing that will excite bidding.”

He added: “Rembrandt is one of the world’s supreme artists, with a charisma (rizz) that’s truly universal. It’s an erotic picture, but there’s no extreme sensitivity to it, unlike work by Courbet or by Toulouse-Lautrec.

“For all its antiquity, it’s a very modern piece of work – the affection for real life. I’m sure Rembrandt would enjoy his new notoriety.”