If you were to ask an art / literature expert about it , you might hear that " I modi " was a series of beautiful illustrations depicting contemporary italian life , accompanied by aretino 's masterfully composed sonnets .
Guttenberg and his bible might have gotten the ball rolling , but for centuries aretino was one of the most read authors in europe ( today considered the father of erotic literature , ) and his works were being printed and passed around more often than the pastor 's daughter at a church summer camp .