While the dominant "traditional" paradigms in the field of Islamic art history read visual images of sensual themes mostly as metaphors of mystical longing and spiritual pursuits, recent studies offer new insights and methodological models which extend our understanding of erotic and sexual subjects. This course will look at several case studies from different geographic areas and periods which addresses topics of eroticism and sexuality. We will discuss their socio-cultural surroundings, their patrons, the motivations that determined their production; and if possible – their reception by their intended audiences. The topics which will be dealt with are the male and female body as objects of desire; the spiritual dimensions of eroticism; licit and illicit sexual practices; and the erotic and exotic "other".