Nudi nudis

On the subject of carnal pleasure, unless I am mistaken, behold, the intention of the painter of the aforementioned picture was derived from the spirit, so that secretly he might depict the sentiment of John the Apostle, saying: 'All that is in the world is either the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life,' that is, all the vices of worldly deviation are reduced to three, which are: carnal pleasure, temporal greed, and the vain glory of pride. And how could carnal pleasure be more appropriately designated than in the picture of the festival at Wiesbaden, replete with all the lasciviousness of the flesh, and the froth of every sensual delight? To this is added rejoicing and exultation, with trumpets and pipes, with vessels and flasks filled; sumptuous foods and drinks are brought forth; abundant money is taken up; curious garments are brought in; the hope of acquiring solace along the way is played, sung, and discussed, as if one aspires to the joy of happiness at the end. When this is reached, feasting is arranged, the company of women is sought, the bath is entered, bodies are washed, souls are stained. They go out, and trumpets sound, pipes play, dances are performed. There, spectacles of corruption are presented to chaste eyes, which are the luxurious gestures and immodest attire of both sexes. There, in women, the nudity of breasts is seen, in men, the exposure of buttocks, everywhere luxury offends the chaste mind. Why say more? There is seen all vanity and dissolution, no devotion, no order; there is forgetfulness of God, there every virtue is exiled; there is no modesty, temperance is absent, gluttony reigns, lust is rampant. In this festival of the belly, truly a brothel of Venus and a mockery of the devil, you will see wondrous monsters; a monk turned soldier, a soldier transformed into a woman, a woman into a man; when a monk is seen in military garb, a soldier in monastic attire, a nun in a harlot's dress, a cleric in feminine clothing. There, with differing attire, kisses are given, males and females kiss each other. In the bath, the naked sit with the naked, the nude dance with the nude. I pass over and pass by those things which occur in darkness, because all such things are well known. But what is this? The end and beginning of this frenzied festival are alike; when all have taken their fill, the vessels return empty, the purses without money, and there is reckoning, and the squandering of so much money displeases. And sometimes the conscience gnaws at the minds of those returning from here for the deeds committed. One is melancholic about such deviation, one grieves at being separated from joy, one meditates sadly on how brief and empty are the joys of the world. Why more? Bodies return whitened and hearts darkened by vices; those who approached healthy return debauched; those wounded by the arrows of Venus return, who once excelled in the virtue of chastity; it is little if the harlots who came as virgins do not return, the adulteresses who were once faithful wives, and if the demoniacs who came as holy women do not return. And thus, with these and other encounters of sorrow, everyone experiences upon returning that what occupies the extreme of carnal joy is grief. 

De voluptate carnali, nisi fallor, ecce mens instituentis praefatae picturae seriem deducta est a spiritu, ut latenter Joannis apostoli sententiam figuraret, dicentis: 'Omne quod est in mundo aut est concupiscentia carnis aut concupiscentia oculorum aut superbia vitae,' id est omnia vitia mundanae deviationis in tria reducuntur, quae sunt: voluptas carnalis, avaritia temporalis et fastus gloriae inanis. Quomodo autem voluptas carnalis appropriatius designari potuit quam in pictura festi Wiesbadensis, omni carnalitate lascivi, et spuma omnis sensualis voluptatis squalidi? Ad quod undique acceditur in letitia et exultatione, cum tubis et fistulis, cum vasculis et flasculis repletis; adducuntur escae et potus delicatissimi, pecunia assumitur copiosa, vestis adducitur curiosa; spe habendi solacium in via luditur, canitur, discurritur, quasi ad gaudium felicitatis habendum in termino aspiretur. Ubi cum perventum est, constituuntur commessationes, quaeritur mulierum societas, intratur balneum, lavantur corpora, maculantur animae. Exitur, et strepunt tubae, canunt fistulae, fiunt choreae. Ibi aspicientium castis oculis obiiciuntur spectacula corruptionis, quae sunt utriusque sexus gestus luxuriosi et habitus impudici. Ibi in feminis inspicitur nuditas uberum, in viris discoopertio natium, ubique luxus quo castus offenditur animus. Quid multa? Ibi cernitur omnis vanitas et dissolutio, nulla devotio, nulla ordo; ibi dei oblivio, ibi omnis virtus exulat; non est verecundia, abest temperantia, regnat gula, insanit luxuria. In hoc festo ventris, verius prostibulo veneris et ludibrio daemonis, mira videbis monstra; monachum militem factum, militem in feminam commutatum, feminam in virum; quando monachus cernitur in veste militari, miles in veste monachali, monialis in habitu meretricio, clericus in vestitu femineo. Ibi dissimilatis habitibus basia dantur, sese osculantur mares et feminae. In balneo nudi nudis consistunt, nudae cum nudis choream ducunt. Taceo iam et transeo ea, quae in obscuro fiunt, quia vulgata sunt omnia. Sed quid est? Non est par exitus et introitus huius festi insanientis, quando omnibus sumptis vasa revertuntur vacua, bursae sine pecunia, et auditur computatio, et displicet tanta pecuniae dilapidatio. Et quandoque revertentium hinc animos mordet de perpetratis vitiis conscientia. Ille melancolizat de tanta deviantia, ille dolet quod separatur a letitia, ille meditatur tristis quam brevia et inania sunt mundi gaudia. Quid plura? Redeunt corpora dealbata et corda vitiis denigrata; redeunt discrustati, qui accesserunt sani; redeunt veneris sauciati sagittis, qui pollebant virtute castitatis; parum est si non reverterentur meretrices quae accesserunt virgines, adulteraeque fuerunt uxes probae, et non redirent demoniales quae accesserunt sanctimoniales. Sicque his aliisque moeroris occursibus redeundo omnes experiuntur, verum esse quod extrema gaudii carnalis luctus occupat."