Initial M for Ben Jonson His Valpone 1897

Aubrey Beardsley made this illustration, Initial M for Ben Jonson His Volpone, in the 1890s. The image provides a provocative entry point into the decadent aesthetic of fin-de-siècle Britain. Beardsley creates meaning here by appropriating and distorting classical and Renaissance visual codes. Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson, and the 'M' is the initial for Mosca, the name of a parasitic character in the play. The artist has rendered the initial in the space between a mother and child, and two grotesque sculptures. The figures evoke both classical antiquity and the stylized eroticism of the late Renaissance. In England at this time, there was a fascination with the rediscovery of classical culture. Yet there was also a sense of anxiety about its potential to corrupt public morals. Beardsley was associated with *The Yellow Book*, a journal that was seen by many as dangerously modern and subversive. Historians use a range of sources to understand the complex social meanings of art like this. Periodicals, literature and political pamphlets all help to give us a better understanding of its cultural context.