In one view, Eve tempting Adam is the first case of sex in advertising, though perhaps this is not normally what we think of by the phrase.

Another candidate for the title is a woodcut produced in 1491 by a Belgian publisher to promote a new translation of "Histoire de la Belle Melusine" by Jean d'Arras. The woodcut may be regarded as the first known illustrated advertising poster. Melusine's breasts are exposed (she is bathing), and there is some suggestion of auto-eroticism in the position of her right hand. The text beneath the illustration reads-"A beautiful, pleasing, and most marvellous story of a lady named Melusine, of her ancestors and descendants, and the wonderful and devout works and deeds they wrought and performed.

Lately translated from the French into Flemish and adorned with fine personages and scenes as the text demands. This story, as well as a great number of other new books, can be purchased at the price written hereunder. "