Sotheby's London held a record-breaking auction this week for a collection spanning centuries of erotic art, definitively proving that sex is timeless—and nearly priceless.

"No subject is more universal than that of passion and desire," said Constantine Frangos, Sotheby's specialist and head of sale, in a statement yesterday. "We've seen unprecedented interest from collectors across the globe."

The event was the auction house's first-ever erotic-themed collection, timed the same week as Valentine's Day. The 107 art pieces in Erotic: Passion & Desire, traced sex in art through the last 2,000 years, from 1st-century Rome to 17th-century Japan to London in the early aughts—and every display of passion in between.

A Roman marble of two lovers. Sotheby's

"Taking a look through the catalog, one is confronted with the idea that there is no form of modern sexual behavior that hasn't already been perfected by our forebears," Melica Khansari, a spokesperson for Sotheby's London, told Esquire. "[Sex] was always very celebrated and maybe even more special historically because it wasn't so accessible. Erotic art doesn't replace sex–but perhaps pornography does."

Revenue from the pieces totaled £5.3 million, or $6.6 million, and the catalog of works drew a record-breaking 1 million views, Sotheby's said.

The oldest piece in the auction was a Roman marble sculpture that depicts a man and woman mid-thrust. Dated to the 1st or 2nd century A.D., it's one of only four known examples of ancient Roman sculpture that depict a couple having sex. Although the couple's heads, legs, and arms are mostly gone, other key appendages remain intact.

Sketches by Pablo Picasso , who was known for an interminable sex drive and for once saying, "Sex and art are the same thing," were also part of the show. One, called "Nu (Nude)," looks at a naked woman through parted thighs while she strokes herself. The pencil sketch was made in August of 1971, only two years before Picasso's death. Called a "blatant celebration of female eroticism," it sold for $148,000, Sotheby's said.

French pieces from the Louis XVI-era France were also included. One particularly fun lot features a man in a powdered wig pleasuring a woman on one of the era's indulgent chaise lounges.

Other works, like one credited to 18th century Turkish artist Abdullah Bukhari, depict the homoerotic. Two of the bright watercolor paintings believed to have been made in Istanbul show male couples in serene, private moments of lovemaking. So, too, does an erotic scroll painting from China's Qing Dynasty. Among 12 scenes, 11 depict a man and woman in various amorous states. But one shows two feminine figures curled around one another on their backs, their legs folded like hugging ladybugs.

Some of the images depict the kind of acrobatic lovemaking that is either confined to art or has largely been lost in time. Such is the case for "A Couple Making Acrobatic Love on a Lake," in which a male lover holds his woman like a lawnmower. The same goes for the voyeuristic "A Loving Couple Watched by a Maiden." Both of those images were dated to 18th-century India.

Some of the more modern pieces read like the punchline to a joke. A Clive Barker sculpture called "I Thought She Was a Natural Blond" features the intimate grooming choices of a smooth bronze torso sculpture. His visual pun "Girl and Her Pussy" shows a bronze woman sitting across from a cat, legs splayed open. They sold for $7,500 and $6,875, respectively.

Others are less jokey, but arresting. In a starkly modern work dated to 2000, an X-ray-like image called "Pipe 1" shows a skeleton giving oral sex.

Bids for the artwork came in from 18 countries around the globe, according to Sotheby's, the success of the show a testament to the enduring appeal of erotic art.

As Khansari said, "Art has always existed to tell a human story, and sex has always been a part of that story."

This post has been updated.

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