Short answers, pulled from the story.
King Francis I of Naples ordered the erotic artifacts locked away in 1819 after visiting the exhibition at the Naples National Archaeological Museum. He created a secret cabinet accessible only to people of mature age and respected morals. This decision kept the erotic artifacts hidden for nearly two hundred years.
Bronze phalluses were sculpted into tintinnabula wind chimes that hung in doorways as wards against the evil eye rather than simple decorations. Romans believed these oversized erections served as talismans protecting the riches of the house. They did not see the image as threatening or necessarily erotic in a modern sense.
Pricing inscriptions reveal costs ranging from one to two asses up to several sesterces depending on the worker. Athenais charged two As while Sabina also asked for two As, whereas a house slave named Logas demanded eight As for his services. Maritimus offered to lick a vulva for four As and claimed readiness to serve virgins as well.
Excavators found seven wall paintings of sexual scenes and one figure with an enlarged scrotum in 1986. These images dated between 62 CE and 79 CE sat above paintings of numbered boxes on a shelf. Spintria tokens feature a numeral on one side and an image of a sexual scene on the other with production dates ranging from around 22 CE to 79 CE.
Venus appeared in at least 197 depictions across Pompeian artwork during the ancient period mostly located in reception areas where guests could view them without invitation. Previous scholarship assumed Venus would be more common in cubicula small enclosed rooms functioning as bedrooms but recent studies show she appears far more frequently in large common rooms instead. Approximately one third of all artwork featuring Venus represents some sort of love scene.