Desire, love and identity 

This collection offers many different perspectives on desire, love and identity, from history to the present day. As time progressed, ideals have varied drastically from culture to culture (Desire, Love, Identity, n.d)

    

Shiva and Parvati. Stone sculpture. India, 12th–13th century.

Above are two Hindu goddesses. To the right is Parvati. She is the goddess of love and fertility and is Shiva's other half. It is said that Shiva's untamed passion has the power to destroy worlds (Love Around the World, 2020).

Below Shiva is a sage by the name of Bhringi. According to the lore, he was devoted to Shiva but not to Parvati. When Bhringi attempted to circle around Shiva as part of his devotion, Parvati sat on Shiva’s lap to express their bond (Love Around the World, 2020)

(Left) Bust of the emperor Hadrian. Marble sculpture. Rome, AD 125–130.

(Right) Bust of Antinous. Marble portrait head. Rome, AD 130–140

Personally, I really like this story. Hadrian’s love for Antinous appears to be endless. Antinous, the Roman emperor and Hadrian’s lover drowned in the Nile river. Traumatized by the death of his lover, Hadrian founded a new city, Antinoopolis, at the location of Antinous' death. Antinous was revered as the god Osiris-Antinous, and Hadrian also constructed buildings and sculptures for the worship of Osiris near Rome (Love Around the World, 2020).

The narrative that both of these pictures are trying to convey is that love should be depicted across all identities. Oftentimes love is just depicted between straight couples and does not include other sexualities (Desire, Love and Identity, n.d). This collection tries to shed light on all forms of love. Love isn't only bound by romance. People can have platonic love or love for objects such as money. 

References

Desire, Love and Identity. The British Museum. (n.d.). https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/desire-love-and-identity 

Love Around the World. British Museum Blog - Explore stories from the Museum. (2020, November 27). https://blog.britishmuseum.org/love-around-the-world/?_gl=1%2A13qay3m%2A_ga%2AMTI4NzIzODY0OS4xNjQzNjg1OTAw%2A_ga_08TLB9R8X1%2AMTY0MzY4NTg5Ny4xLjEuMTY0MzY4NjY1NS4w