Famed Soviet sculptor Sergey Merkurov, best known for his towering monuments honoring leaders like Stalin and the death masks he created (the faces of Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky included), dabbled in the erotic arts. The former director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts made an A to Z picture book of people having sex in impossible positions. It contains multiple references to Greek and Roman mythology, hence the horny satyr that appears throughout. We’re still unsure about the inspiration behind the severed male appendages, some of which have wings. See more of Merkurov’s erotic alphabet, which we spotted on Animal, in our gallery.

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov

Image credit: Sergey Merkurov