Gallery 3:

Temptation

Gallery 2:

The Cardinals

Comedy and the Roman Catholic Church have rarely crossed paths in history. For centuries, clergymen commissioned portraits exuding dignity and reverence, the qualities they sought to define their public image. With the Church's inner workings hidden behind closed doors, the public felt only awe for the clerics in these grand portraits. In the late 19th century, however, a small but talented group of Continental European artists brought the public into those sequestered chambers, revealing clerics' human side through the unique, short-lived genre of "Cardinal Paintings.

Were cardinals, bishops, priests, and monks as devout as their
portraits suggested, or were they the same as everyone else,
succumbing occasionally to petty foibles?

Whether it be in the form of the forbidden fruit or a sensuous nude, temptation has long been the vehicle that drives one to vice. Presently and historically, New Orleans lacks not for temptations, whether they be in the form of rich, caloric food, casinos, 24-hour drinking establishments, strip clubs, or otherwise. This portion of the exhibition explores a range of alluring objects and a surprising roster of  individuals who succumb to earthly temptation.

Themes of lust, seduction and temptation pervade in these objects, with a particular nod to the voyeur. In ways that are both humorous and enticing, these pieces challenge one to either resist, or fall prey to, temptation.

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"It is no easy matter to go to heaven by way of New Orleans."

—Reverend J. Chandler Gregg

On the occasion of the Tricentennial of the city of New Orleans, M.S. Rau Antiques is pleased to welcome you to Vice and Virtue: An Exhibition of Sex, Saints, and Sin. Through thematic curation, the exhibition pays homage to New Orleans’ rich history steeped in Catholicism and devotion that is paradoxically marked by a persistent culture of indulgence and debauchery. New Orleans’ Catholic roots trace back beyond the city’s official founding in 1718, when early European missionaries worked amongst the region’s native population. In 1718, Sieur de Bienville, the city’s founder, designated a prominent riverside site for what would become the famed St. Louis Cathedral. In 1893, New Orleans became America’s second diocese, with St. Louis Cathedral acting as its basilica. Under periods of both French and Spanish colonial rule... 

Gallery 1:

Innocence

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The exhibition begins with a collection of objects that capture the inherent innocence of youth, as well as mythological beings such as nymphs and putti. Together, these pure, and perhaps naïve, beings provide context for and contrast to the sinners that lie ahead.

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Symbolizing the original tempter, the serpent reappears time and again on porcelain, jewelry, and other objets d’art. The creature represents the dual nature of humankind, both good and evil, and thus offers the perfect metaphor for temptation’s ambiguity. Themes of lust, seduction and temptation pervade in the objects that follow, with a particular nod to the notion of the voyeur. In ways that are both humorous and enticing, these compelling works challenge one to either resist - or fall prey to - temptation.

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Gallery 4:

The Saved

Across the majority of the world’s religions, it is believed that an eternity of bliss in the afterlife awaits those who resist life’s temptations. For centuries, artists and artisans have attempted to evoke the spiritual wonder of this prevailing hope through the objects that they craft. The pieces that follow embody this sense of wonder, bringing together notions of altruism and selflessness with spiritual and material richness.

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Themes of lust, seduction and temptation pervade in these objects, with a particular nod to the voyeur. In ways that are both humorous and enticing, these pieces challenge one to either resist, or fall prey to, temptation.

Here we pay tribute to our neighboring St. Louis Cathedral, whose altar is pictured on the adjacent wall. The cathedral’s origins date back to 1718, when the city’s founder, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, designated a riverside site for what ultimately became the cathedral at Jackson Square. A local priest blessed the location by planting a cross on its grounds in early 1718, before the official founding ceremony of New Orleans. Since then, four iterations of the cathedral-basilica have existed on the holy site, a location that throughout history has acted as ground zero for visitors to the city.

Gallery 5:

The Damned

Here lurk the sinners, those who embrace vice without shame. Prostitutes, drunkards, gamblers, and criminals: these are the damned who have caved to hedonistic temptations with or without remorse. From the brothel to the bottom of the bottle, the seedier side of history, New Orleans’ and universally, leaves behind its own storied legacy in the compelling objects that follow. They have come to embody all manner of sin, from lust and excess to greed and wrath. The message that they send is clear: Life is short, and the damned have chosen to “Laissez les bons temps rouler.” The exhibition  nonetheless concludes with a selection of torture devices and memento mori objects that remind these sinners that sometimes consequences indeed await.

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Gallery 6:

The Brothel

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This room pays homage to Storyville, New Orleans’ legal red-light district that neighbored the French Quarter between 1897 and 1917. Councilman Sidney Story unsuccessfully endeavored to contain the city’s vice within one region, at a time when New Orleans’ dignified citizens were disenchanted with disgraceful behavior. The district attracted visitors from near and far, who navigated their way with the help of Blue Books, the annually released (and discreetly sized)
guidebooks promoting various bordellos and their girls.

Storyville’s history is closely intertwined with the birth of jazz and hence leaves a crucial cultural legacy.

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The most notorious of the houses, such as The Arlington and Lulu White were extravagantly decorated, with ornate Victorian or art nouveau furnishings. Upstairs, girls welcomed their clients into  sophisticated bedrooms, such as the one you will find here. Downstairs reception rooms featured drinking and live music for the entertainment of guests. Important musicians like Buddy Bolden, Jellyroll Morton, and Louis Armstrong got their start playing in or near Storyville. Although looked down upon by upright New Orleanians at the time, Storyville’s
history is closely intertwined with the birth of jazz and hence leaves a crucial cultural legacy. 

Our brothel room straddles the Atlantic, referencing both Storyville and the grander history of prostitution in France. In this room, you will find a collection of erotic French postcards that depict sensuous nude women. The pièce de resistance, however, is the Siege d’Amour or “Love Seat” designed for Edward VII of England who liked to engage two women at the same time during his romps at Parisian bordello Le Chanais in the 1880’s.

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This room pays homage to Storyville, New Orleans’ legal red-light district that neighbored the French Quarter between 1897 and 1917. Councilman Sidney Story unsuccessfully endeavored to contain the city’s vice within one region, at a time when New Orleans’ dignified citizens were disenchanted with disgraceful behavior. The district attracted visitors from near and far, who navigated their way with the help of Blue Books, the annually released (and discreetly sized)
guidebooks promoting various bordellos and their girls.

Gallery 3:

Punishment

Gallery 7:

Punishment

Now Open

Vice & Virtue

"It is no easy matter to go to heaven by way of New Orleans." 

—Reverend J. Chandler Gregg