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BOTTICELLI - VENUS AND MARS
Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1485
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- Early Renaissance, housed at the National Gallery in London.
- Roman gods Venus, goddess of love, and Mars, god of war, in an allegory of beauty and valour.
- Originally a deity specific to the people of
the Italian peninsula she superseded the Greek Aphrodite and later integrated
with her.
- Venus and Mars are lying facing each other in a garden
with surrounding meadow,
they are accompanied by four satyrs.
- Venus watches Mars
sleep while the infant satyrs play within the sacred grotto of
myrtle trees where she had taken refuge after being born on
the coast of Cyprus.
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Jove's daughter Venus is always dishonouring me because I am lame.
(Homer)
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Poplar wood |
- The models for Venus and Mars are Simonetta
Vespucci and Leonardo da Vinci, although Giuliano di Piero de' Medici has been proposed as the athletic model for Mars.
- The figures are all outlined in thick black lines, a traditional Florentine technique
which helps to give the painting its pleasing sense of clarity.
- Oil and egg-tempera on a poplar wood panel.
- The story has been told by the Greek poet Homer in
Odyssey, and the Roman author Ovid, in Metamorphoses
in the 1st-century AD.
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Call if not love, for Love to heaven is fled
Since sweating Lust on earth usurped his name.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
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Hung at shoulder height |
- The rectangular panel was called a 'spalliera' which is
an Italian word that means shoulder, 'spalla,' and describes
a type of painting that was hung at shoulder height.
- Because of the size and shape the painting,
this shows it was made for a 15th-century Florentine home, rather than a public building or church.
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The artist has taken inspiration from the writings of the classical poet Lucian and was no doubt also guided by the Medici house poet Poliziano.
(italian-renaissance-art.com)
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Laurel bay leaves |
- Bay leaves have many symbolic meanings, including victory,
wisdom, protection, and purification and were used to crown victors in ancient Greece and Rome.
- Bay leaves symbolize both acquired and intuitive wisdom.
- The term 'laureate' is still used today to describe those who achieve greatness.
- Used for purification in Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy to symbolize Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead.
- Bay leaves are also used in cooking, and as an insect repellent.
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Thereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, and as
soon as they were free they scampered off, Mars to
Thrace and laughter-loving Venus to Cyprus and to
Paphos, where is her grove and her altar fragrant with
burnt offerings.
(Homer)
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Forward movement |
- Botticelli was a favorite artist of the ruling
Medici family and their circle.
- Among his most mysterious works are the three Venus paintings;
Primavera, Venus and Mars, and The Birth of Venus.
- All three were created in the early
1480s for patrons connected to the Medici.
- Curiously, all three contain a central female figure
that actively moves the narrative forward, while the male figures play passive, minor roles in the
story.
- Completely opposite the gender roles in that medieval period.
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Botticelli’s close link with the Medici and their circle meant that he likely observed the
working partnership of couples such as Piero de’ Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni, as well as
Lorenzo de’ Medici and Clarice Orsini. These observations would have made him well aware of the influence a wife could have over her husband.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
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Whale of a tale |
- Botticelli
took from Lucretius and Ovid's mythological
poetry to create a series of paintings for the Medici family, thereby translating one artist's
work into another.
- The poet is therefore expressed as the visual artist.
- He is changing a verbal artistic interpretation of the
poet into a visual Neo-platonic vocabulary.
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Botticelli‟s mythologies in the Uffizi museum are considered some of the earliest
Renaissance paintings to depict mythological tales.
- The Medici family believed
these legends contained the mysterious truth of the power of love and beauty.
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The
Medici‟s were a big part of the humanist society doing all they could do to relive Roman and
Greek antiquity so it is not surprising that they wanted representations of classical myths. With
their friends, they formed their own society to try to bring back Plato‟s and Aristotle‟s theories.
(Jenna Marie Newberry)
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A wide array of characters |
- The painting can be interpreted as the overlaying of many
different characters and eras, in the same fashion as all
our lives.
- They are the wedding couple about
to be married who received the painting as a gift, and more than
likely were members of the Vespucci family.
- Also a representation
of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit as all marriage
artwork of the period generally incorporated.
- The
platonic love affair of Simonetta Vespucci and Giuliano de'
Medici of the wealthy Florentine banking family.
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I come into my garden, my sister my promised bride, […] I gather my honey and my honeycomb […] friends […] I sleep but my heart is awake […] my love, my dove, my perfect one.
(Song of Songs)
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Art community |
- The painting also showcases the art
community that Botticelli was so famous for and included in all
his pieces, the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and others and of
course, self-portraits of himself and family members and he
often incorporated many leaders of industry and politicians
in his artwork.
- Of course we have Mars and Venus, the
god and goddess of Roman mythology and their adultrous
affair.
- Plus there is the eventual tussle between a
married couple after the gifts are opened and life begins.
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O hard-believing love, how strange it seems! Not to believe, and yet too credulous.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
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Love and war |
- The story of Venus and Mars is about the affair between the goddess of love and the god of war.
- No longer the ferocious warrior, Mars is subdued by the
power of love.
- At first glance the painting seems to be about the triumph of
love over war since Mars is most vulnerable and without armor
and he seems vanquished,
'spent,' while Venus is alert.
- The painting can be interpreted as a celebration of love's power over conflict, embodying the ideals of beauty, harmony, and the interplay between opposing forces within human experience.
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During the Renaissance, there was a renewed interest in classical antiquity and humanism. Botticelli’s work reflects these ideals, showcasing the beauty of the human form and the complexities of human emotions and relationships.
(Assistant)
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Moon and Mars |
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Venus is often associated with beauty, fertility, and love, while Mars represents conflict and aggression.
- Venus and Mars have a strong influence on people's personalities, relationships, and desires.
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Venus and the Moon are seen as the
indications of the “inner female” within a man’s natal
chart. It is viewed as his female side. But, since men
are not culturally encouraged to own this side of
their nature, they project this quality onto important
women in their lives. Whereas, Mars and the Sun are seen as representing the inner masculine side of a woman. Carl Jung referred to this as the “animus”. Since most women are NOT culturally encouraged to own this part of their nature, they project this quality onto important men in their life.
(Robert Kimball)
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Venus and Mars |
- Venus symbolizes love, beauty, harmony, and attraction.
- Its placement in a natal chart influences how a person feels love, communicates affection, and seeks pleasure.
- Mars, on the other hand, represents action, drive, and boldness.
- It influences how one pursues goals, communicates enthusiasm, and resolves conflicts.
- Venus and Mars work together to generate a dynamic interplay of love and desire, balancing romantic impulses and physical attraction.
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The couple's relationship could also be considered in terms of astrology, in which Mars is, according to Marsilio Ficino, "outstanding in strength among the planets, because he makes men stronger, but Venus masters him ...she seems to master Mars, but Mars never masters Venus.
(Wikipedia)
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Venus dry inferno |
- Plate tectonics shaped the Earth, whereas the Moon is a dry and inactive desert.
- Mars probably came to rest within the first billion years of its history, and Venus, although internally very active, has a dry inferno for its surface.
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Venus' missing water is a planetary mystery
The water in Venus' atmosphere is gone with the wind, new detections suggest. This absence is strange, because astronomers think Venus and Earth likely began with similar amounts of water since they are about the same size and formed at the same time.
(nbcnews.com)
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Marriage painting |
- This painting is considered by many
historians as a marriage painting.
- Because Venus is not wearing any rings, the sign of married women in Renaissance Florence,
this shows she is not yet married and it was painted for a
future bride.
- The major reason for considering this a marriage painting is not the subject or the shape but the context in which it is made.
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In 15th-century Florentine patrician houses wedding chests called "cassoni" were painted on the outside and inside for the occasions of weddings, these chests sometimes being carried through the streets from the bride's house to the groom's. The inside lids of these cassoni, as they are called, are often painted with naked or near-naked
erotic figures, a man on one lid and a woman on the other.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
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Bedroom furniture
resting |
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The
curators of the painting felt that the work was probably a piece of bedroom furniture, perhaps a bedhead
or piece of wainscoting, most probably the 'spalliera' or backboard from a chest or day bed.
- Botticelli’s use of color, composition, and line work demonstrates his mastery of the medium.
- The flowing lines and soft colors create a dreamlike quality, enhancing the romantic aspect of the scene.
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The theme of the painting, commonly understood to be
“love conquers all,” is traditional for nuptial
commissions. The depiction of Mars asleep on the right and Venus reclining on the left,
attended by cupids, was well known in decorative arts of the period.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
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Iron Maiden |
- Venus here is a chaste Venus, the married Venus that is also found in
Botticelli's Primavera, dressed, enlocked in her gown.
- Promotes the ideal of marital love because she gives her
body only to her husband.
- The function of this painting would have been to remind the wife of chastity and faith to her husband, yet also the ideal that she should provide an heir to the family.
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She's love, she loves, and yet she is not loved.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
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Marital mode |
- Unlike in the artist's Birth of Venus,
Venus is fully clothed, as she is in marital mode.
- This despite Venus being the wife of Vulcan, making the relationship adulterous by
normal cultural standards.
- The counterpart of Venus rising is Venus sleeping or resting.
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Venus is the embodiment of all facets of beauty and love, femininity. This is a complex and ambiguous character, domineering and gracious, dangerous, and attractive. Speaking of Venus not as a character, but as a power, its dominance is even more justified.
(Anna Berkutsia)
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V for Vespucci family |
- The provenance of this piece isn’t known, but it is believed it likely commemorates a wedding, or was a wedding gift commissioned by the Vespucci family.
- Botticelli had accepted commissions from the Vespucci’s in the past, and they had been his neighbors when he was a child.
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The
god of war, Mars, lies asleep due to the effects of
the 'little death,' the torpor that follows sexual
intercourse.
(Wikipedia)
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Is it a bird or a plane? or a wasp?
or maybe
even a fly |
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The Vespucci name derives from Vespa which is Italian for wasp.
- This would explain the nest of buzzing wasps that Botticelli painted
next to Mars, which is indicating some kind of bad omen.
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In the foreground, a swarm of wasps hovers around Mars' head, possibly as a symbol that love is often accompanied by pain. Another explanation, is that the wasps represent the Vespucci family that may have commissioned the painting.
(Wikipedia)
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Wasp |
- The Americas were named after Florence native, Amerigo
Vespucci, who was an explorer and immigrated to Cadiz in
Spain in 1492.
- The Vespucci coat of arms includes the wasp which
symbolizes taking action toward your dreams.
- Wasp symbolism
shows that merely thinking about your dreams will not make them a reality,
and that you must make a plan.
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Beyond the satyrs we also have wasps buzzing around Mars head. Personally, I think I’d notice wasps buzzing that close even if I was asleep, so I’m beginning to have doubts about Mars’ military skills. Surely a successful warrior should be a bit more aware.
(kellybagdanov.com)
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Sting |
- The wasps are symbols for the family who owned the painting as well as symbols for the sweetness and sting of love.
- Resistance to change is self-sabotage by definition.
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The Palestinian hornet, or wasp, was a vicious stinging insect. The author of the apocryphal book of Wisdom described the visitation as a merciful dispensation that gave the old inhabitants of the holy land a chance for repentance.
(Wikipedia)
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Wasp nest in tree |
- The wasps in the scene are coming from a nest in the hollow of the tree stump behind Mars' head.
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A hornet's nest symbolizes various factors such as fertility, power, and hard work, and it can also be a warning sign.
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For example, a wasp nest in a tree can symbolize danger, misplaced trust, or a harsh winter.
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In The Shining, a wasp's nest symbolizes
danger and Danny's misplaced trust in Jack. Jack, who is first and foremost a writer, thinks of the wasps’ nest as a “workable symbol” for what he has been through in life—as well as what he has put Wendy and Danny through—and “an omen for a better future.” Jack’s future, however, isn’t better, and it ultimately ends in disaster, starting with the wasps’ nest.
(litcharts.com)
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Wasps as symbols of industry |
- Wasps and
bees may also be seen as symbols of industry, productivity, and eloquence.
- Botticelli is using the wasps as
symbols of these ideal feminine qualities, which are, more importantly here, ideal qualities that
should be found in a wife.
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The wasps buzz around Mars’ head as a symbol
of the wife’s voice, which whispers in her husband’s
ear. From this, a young woman is meant to understand
that if she embodies the qualities of fertility,
industry, and eloquence, she may gain influence over
her husband.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
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Venus' clasp |
- Not only did Botticelli include real wasps in the painting, but he painted a wasp on some of the pearls of Venus' brooch.
- Venus hair is braided and
also formed into a V which follows the outline of the top of the dress,
from the neckline down to the jewelry.
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If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
(Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew)
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Vespucci keystone |
- Botticelli also included a wasp inside the letter V formed by her
hair in the central gem of the jewelry made out of rubies and
pearls.
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It is remarkably similar to the wasp within a V in the
keystone of an arch on one of the Vespucci villas in
the countryside in a small town of Montefioralle near
Greve in Tuscany.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
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Vespucci gold |
- Actually, V's appear everywhere in Venus' gown, right side up, upside down, shaped by the slit openings in the arms of
the dress, twice on her leg, once near her knee and once near her feet.
- They're also imprinted on the gold braided trim on her gown,
- She appears in her underdress and this casual
costume emphasizes the intimacy of the scene.
- Her body is adorned in gold
jewelry that was described in the Greek epics as heavenly garments.
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His eye which scornfully glisters like fire
Shows his hot courage and his high desire.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
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Mars V |
- One might think these V's refer to Venus, but they appear on Mars as well.
- They can be seen in the shape of the crook of his elbow and the sharp inner and outer turn of his leg.
- And at the intersection of his right arm and right thigh.
- The Roman numeral V stands for the number 5 which has many symbolic meanings, including freedom, change, and adventure.
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In the Tarot, the number five appears in several cards, such as the Five of Wands, Five of Cups, and Five of Pentacles. Each of these cards represents conflict, loss, or struggle, but also the potential for growth and transformation through adversity.
In alchemical traditions, five is sometimes considered a number of transformation, relating to the five stages of the alchemical process.
(Assistant)
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Venus/Pallas/Medusa/Simonetta/Eve |
- Venus is reclining on the left side of the painting in a
beautiful white gown with gold trim
that is very sheer where it covers her lower half.
- She leans her right arm on a large rose pink colored
cushion with the rest of her body, including her left leg,
which we see luxuriously stretched out on the ground before
her.
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This work shows Venus in an elegant and dainty recline looking over the slumbering, almost nude figure of Mars who is covered with just a white cloth, while four satyrs comically occupy the surrounding shallow visual illusion of space. It is commonly accepted that this is an image depicting the moment after the pair have made love and is supported by a number of metaphors and gestures.
(arthistorysociety.org)
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Eros or Cupid |
- Eros is the Greek god of passionate desire
and is often depicted as the son and attendant of Venus.
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His Roman counterpart is Cupid, the god of desire.
- C.S. Lewis distinguished between
'Eros,' the feelings of attraction between lovers, and 'Venus,' the sexual act itself.
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Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
(Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra)
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Venus sex appeal |
- Venus is clearly the
goddess of lust, however, she is not a wanton Venus, she is clothed, as is befitting a high-born
bride.
- Venus possesses exceptional characteristics of sex appeal.
- This Venus is a role model for young brides, since she embodies the
perfect Renaissance bride, who was described by contemporary
thinkers as combining chastity and amorous abandon.
- Venus was the embodiment of sensuality within the permissible boundaries
of marriage.
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By looking at paintings such as the Venus and Mars, one can see that although women were not permitted to officially hold office, they had great power and
influence over civic, ecclesiastical, and domestic matters.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
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Venus spell |
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Venus was known to use her captivating beauty and sexuality to her advantage having many gods and heroes fall under her spell.
- She is a major figure in pop culture and music, and is even viewed as an icon for feminism.
- Women have been shamed throughout all of history whenever displaying their sexuality overtly, and Venus can be interpreted as the first figure to challenge those ideologies.
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Stories of Venus, like the one about her affair with Mars, as well as the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where Venus seduces Anchises which ultimately leads to his death as a result, are significant to understanding the many differing perceptions of her as a goddess, and the impact she has in feminism and pop culture.
(eportfolios.roehampton.ac.uk)
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The swamp |
- The banquet's sudden disappearance shows the tempest courtiers how powerless they are.
- Shakespeare derived the story of Venus and Adonis from Ovid’s
Metamorphoses, the main difference being that in his poem Adonis becomes a coy and reluctant lover.
- Venus
discovers the tragic potential of love and ironically, she learns from Adonis
what she had hoped to teach him.
- A Petrarchan lover is one whose undying love for another is not returned.
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One of the most important elements which link the horses and the characters is the implied inadequacies of the Petrarchan treatment of amorous experience.
(DG Watson)
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Venus blamed, trapped and murdered |
- Virtually nothing happens in the poem and the majority of it is taken up with the amorous arguments of Venus interspersed with objections from Adonis.
- There is no forward movement, merely a debate that
results in no conclusion.
- The poem is not a
glorification of sexual love, or any kind of love.
- Eve is
divine and Adam has clay feet.
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Old lord, I cannot blame thee, Who am myself attached with weariness To th' dulling of my spirits. Sit down and rest. Even here I will put off my hope and keep it No longer for my flatterer. He is drowned Whom thus we stray to find, and the sea mocks Our frustrate search on land.
(Shakespeare, The Tempest)
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Botticelli as satyr |
- Botticelli portrayed
himself as the satyr under the arm of Mars, encased in a cuirass
(which is a piece of armor consisting of breastplate and backplate fastened together).
- The cuirass serves as a cushion for the resting Mars
(Leonardo).
- Botticelli also places himself at the feet of Venus.
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The cuirass has a two-fold meaning: it represents a barrel, as Botticelli’s nickname was “little barrel”, and as a piece of armour it can also be recognised as a pun on the Italian word “amore”, meaning love.
(catchlight.blog)
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Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Birth of Venus -
1485
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- Venus represents Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci who had died 34
years earlier and was a lifelong love interest of
Botticelli's and was often called his muse.
- Some believe that Simonetta was the model
in many of his paintings including Birth of Venus.
- She was a noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of
Giuliano de' Medici.
- Giuliano was the brother of Lorenzo the
Magnificent, an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the
Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic
patron of Renaissance culture in Italy.
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Before Botticelli died in 1510 he had expressed a wish to be laid to rest at the feet of Simonetta’s tomb in the church of All Saints in Florence where she had been interred some 34 years earlier in 1476.
(catchlight.blog)
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Leonardo da Vinci as Mars
with bird on
forehead |
- The four satyrs are Botticelli and his three brothers, Giovanni, Simone and Antonio.
- They are teasing and tempting the sleeping figure of Mars
(Leonardo da Vinci) and form the group of three demons clinging to the ‘damned man’ alongside the trumpeter.
- Leonardo was called a 'fallen angel' because of an
unsuccessful jump he took off a hilltop with one of his
inventions.
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Another motif associated with Leonardo is the monkey and bird. It’s not the first time Botticelli has borrowed this motif from Leonardo’s painting of The Annunciation. In this instance, the bird is the figure of Repentance.
(catchlight.blog)
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911 built in |
- The attempt was short lived and Leonardo crash landed
and later Michelangelo insinuated that he may have landed in a
tree.
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During this time it was believed that if a young bride (who would be chaste) gazed on male beauty she would be more likely to have male children or an heir, the goal of most Renaissance marriages.
(kellybagdanov.com)
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Adam
Elephant in the Fall of Man |
- In Michelangelo's Last Judgment fresco, Leonardo is portrayed as Adam in the
Fall of Man (the Damned Man) and as one of the group of Trumpeting Angels.
- This
represents the exit from Paradise into a world of lasting temptation and sin.
- The same as he is portrayed here as Adam (Mars) by
Botticelli.
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like a bolt of lightening from heaven. (Luke
10:18)
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Mars/Giuliano/Leonardo/Adam |
- His left leg is stretched out in front of him, and his right leg is propped up and over his other leg.
- He is nude except for a white cloth covering his genital area.
-
There appear to be noises coming from all around the sleeping god, but he continues his slumber.
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Mars wears only a loincloth. He is
Botticelli’s most perfect male nude, a masterpiece of draftsmanship in which every difficulty of
expression as well as of perspective and foreshortening is surmounted with such well-pondered
mastery that our most lasting impression is of the naturalness of the whole as well as the beauty
of the single limbs.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
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Medusa too |
- So where is Eve, the woman who first conversed with the serpent?
- She can only be Medusa, and the woman who sat opposite Leonardo with snakes in her hair.
- Notice Simonetta’s
'stern and angry face' and the light shining on the face of Giuliano, his eyes lifted up to
'the resplendent sun of Glory.'
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Simonetta also represents Medusa, the woman whose gaze can turn people into stone. Has this happened to the sleeping Leonardo? Notice the head of the middle satyr supporting the lance is turned to gaze at the Medusa figure.
(catchlight.blog)
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Hair in all its forms |
- Botticelli exhibits the beauty of hair
in all its forms; plaited, loose, and waving in its own natural grace.
- The Medusa attributes can be recognized in her hair’s snake tails, and the shield shape of the red cushion under her right arm, similar in shape to a snake head.
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In the
poem Stanze, Simonetta’s hair is
described as “ringlets of golden hair” which curl on
her forehead. In the description of Giuliano’s
standard, Simonetta as Pallas wears her hair
elaborately braided and fluttering in the wind.
Venus’s hair is a combination of both. Two braided
plaits of golden hair fall from a braided bun and
cascade onto the cushion. Four other locks of hair,
two short and two long, curl at the front.
(Eynav R. Ovadia)
|
Mars winged bird flying |
- Mars is
shown as Leonardo da Vinci who was a favorite satirical
target for Botticelli and is portrayed with his protective winged
left arm of God.
- He also has a bird in flight on his
forehead.
- The wasps are a symbol of the Vespucci family and the woman of his dreams facing Leonardo, Simonetta Vespucci.
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Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they?
(Matthew 6:26)
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Mars limp left hand |
- Adam’s lounging pose and limp left hand in
Michelangelo's Creation of Man was mirrored
in the sleeping figure of Mars
by Botticelli.
- In the Bible, the phrase 'strengthen your limp hands'
is a metaphor for spiritual renewal and perseverance.
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Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:12)
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Snatched away by a white collar
'daemon' |
- The iron rod has multiple symbolic meanings, including the word of God, authority,
punishment and protection.
- In the Old Testament, rods are used to represent words or speech.
- The rod of iron was a shepherd's club used to protect
a flock from danger.
- Joseph Smith also had a strong
belief that a rod of iron is a path that leads to Christ.
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But with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
(Isaiah 11:4)
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Creature of temptation |
- Botticelli created his satyrs, or nature spirits, as creatures of temptation.
- The middle satyr is caught gazing at Medusa who
represents judgment.
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Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror, but then we shall be seeing face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
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Giuliano assassinated
|
- Botticelli's Mars also represents Giuliano de’ Medici who was assassinated in the Duomo Cathedral of Florence on April 26, 1478.
- This was two years to the day after Simonetta Vespucci died
on April 26, 1476, at the young age of 22.
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The relationship between Giuliano and Simonetta was said to have been platonic – a courtly love.
(catchlight.blog)
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Leonardo da Vinci
by Andrea del Verrocchio |
- So why did Botticelli use the likeness of Leonardo da Vinci to portray the figure of Mars/Giuliano?
- This is because a terracotta bust of Giuliano, sculpted by Andrea del Verrocchio,
shows Giuliano wearing body armor, a cuirass.
- The front displays a Medusa-type gorgon modeled on the face of a screaming Leonardo da Vinci
surrounded by feathered wings instead of snakes.
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The cuirass can also be viewed as symbolising a tomb placed under the protection of a winged angel (Leonardo’s left arm) and so pointing to the face of Leonardo da Vinci as a winged, but fallen angel, on the breastplate of Verrocchio’s terracotta bust of Giuliano de’ Medici.
(catchlight.blog)
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Leonardo as bird with wing
from Botticelli
Adoration of the Magi |
- Venus' rose pink pillow coordinates with the rose tinted blanket beneath Mars
in the painting.
- Leonardo is often portrayed as a bird wearing rose
pink and is portrayed in a winged cloak this color in
Botticelli's The Adoration of the Magi.
-
He has a missing or hidden foot.
|
The Caribbean flamingo is salmon-colored with pink legs and feet. Flamingos live in large colonies notable for their bickering and squabbling, which is typical social behavior. They communicate with honks, and often one bird’s honk can get the entire flock going. Flamingos while the day away preening, feeding, and resting on one of their long legs. Flamingos walk on their toes and their knees are hidden under their feathers.
(Homer)
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Venus rose pink pillow
as snake head |
- Pink snakes are a naturally occurring color variant of various snake species, most commonly the corn snake.
- They are sometimes called red rat snake which is a species of North American rat snake in the family
Colubridae..
- Their pink hue is caused by a genetic mutation called erythrism.
- The species subdues its small prey by constriction and is found throughout the southeastern and central United States.
- Some of them are called flamingo snakes and they have
European bloodlines.
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But Venus took care of them, and fed them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine.
(Homer)
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Venus left footed
|
- While the painting represents idealized beauty, the bodies are not perfect
because the dimensions are off.
- The leg of Mars that is raised is too short, and the position of Venus’ legs is unnatural
and she is missing her right leg; it's hard to imagine it anywhere.
- Her legs also appear somewhat confusing in terms of
perspective of what is left and right.
|
While this painting is lighthearted Peter Paul Rueben’s painting The Horrors of War, takes an entirely different look at the relationship between Venus and Mars. In that painting Mars is clearly choosing war over love.
(kellybagdanov.com)
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Venus de Milo |
- This is the well known 'missing leg' concept in art,
which is most likely associated with the statue Venus de Milo, which depicts the Roman goddess Venus
who is missing both arms, the left foot, and the earlobes.
- The idea of a missing limb in art, especially in classical depictions like
Venus and Mars, can symbolically represent a concept like vulnerability or incompleteness.
|
like a bolt of lightening from heaven. (Luke
10:18)
|
Key part of mobility missing |
- The leg, a key part of mobility, symbolizes the ability to move freely and make choices, so its absence can represent a loss of control over one's life or situation.
- A missing limb can symbolize a feeling of loss, like
something you thought you had is gone.
- Mars dreamlike
state suggests that the female figure is an insubstantial and unstable fantasy.
- Her twisted body would slide off the bed if not supported by the figure holding up her leg.
|
A missing right leg often represents a significant loss of personal power, stability, or independence, signifying a vulnerability or a sense of being incomplete, often linked to a character's inner turmoil or a traumatic experience that has left them feeling "unwhole" or unable to fully move forward in life.
(litcharts.com)
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Solo foot
pose |
- Venus’ pose may reference an extant classical work of art, the Roman Hermaphrodite sculpture, which was very popular in Florence in the
15th-century, and was widely copied.
- This sculpture
appeared male when viewed from one side, female from the other, has a similarly reclining pose, and Venus’ foot in particular seems to reference the pose of the sculpture.
- Botticelli seems to have crammed in as many classical references as possible, on top of the subject matter into his work.
|
The Sleeping Hermaphrodite statue imitates a person awakening, stretching limbs with a contrapposto motion, stretching a cloth covering with the left toe, and lifting the pelvis to reveal the erection that has disturbed sleep.
(Doug King)
|
 |
 |
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Christ did had two feet |
- The Christ in Michelangelo's Florentine Pieth is also missing
one leg, and yet the missing limb is rarely missed by viewers.
- Michelangelo certainly
did not conceive a Christ with amputations, he planned a
whole, and whatever that whole was meant to represent.
- He
worked on the piece for eight years until the mid-1550s when he
destroyed the statue in part.
|
There is only one action possible for the missing leg. The
left groin still shows a slot or socket for its insertion, presumably for a replacement to be cut from a separate block. And a hollow place on the Virgin's thigh shows where
it lay. It is indeed in this only possible pose that the leg appears in a number of painted and engraved reconstructions
dating from the late sixteenth century.
(Leo Steinberg)
|
Rocky road in the heavens |
-
The name Venus in itself, is masculine in its termination, and it was perceived that the goddess becomes the god and the god the goddess sometimes.
- Venus Barbata ('Bearded Venus') was an epithet of the goddess Venus among the Romans.
- White collar rocks in the road.
|
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had been Minister for Mining and Road Construction in Duke Karl August's cabinet since 1775, so he inevitably had to seek direct contact with the mining industry. He observed nature and began to collect stones and plants, and in the 1780s he converted his garden house to make room for his mineral collection. In order to acquire knowledge of minerals and rocks, he collected everything that seemed useful to him.
(mineralica.com)
|
Istar or Ishtar |
- It was said that the Venus (Istar) had a beard,
however, this is an astronomical metaphor which transfers
qualitites of the planet to the goddess in order to emphasize
her strength and brilliancy.
- The belief was taken from an
ancient hymn that stated; 'She has a beard like the god Asur'
and that text was used to prove the existence of a bearded
goddess in several countries notably in Cyprus.
- A
certain phrase, siqna saqanu, which means 'she shines
strongly' where siqna (beard) translates 'to shine' plus the
fact that Greeks also refered to the tonque or tail of a comet
as bearded or 'flaming.'
- Later cultures in Mesopatamia and
Syria did not recognize this version of the goddess in their
glyptics.
|
For she was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness of fire, a splendid robe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework, which shimmered like the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see. Also she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of flowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces.
(Homeric Hymn 5)
|
Bearded goddess |
- There are some who believe there was obscure cult of the very famous goddess, Aphrodite,
who was the bearded goddess, a bisexual/hermaphrodidic.
-
One of Aphrodite’s most famous representations was a figurine from Ayia Irini, Cyprus, that portrays this female deity as
The Bearded Goddess, a bisexual and self-sufficient entity.
-
This statue depicted her as a bearded woman wearing female clothing, but with a male-like figure.
|
The cult of a bearded Aphrodite or Venus, in whose
honor people engaged in transvestite rituals, seems to
have been widely spread in Cyprus. Ever since
prehistory, many Cypriot sculptures have an obvious
bisexual character. Aphrodite – a hermaphrodite?
(Marie-Louise Winbladh)
|
Cult member |
- The idea of Venus as a mixture of male and female was a late development in antiquity.
- The cult of the bearded Venus was widespread in Cyprus, especially in the town of Amathus.
- Aphroditus
is the male version of Aphrodite.
- The Pamphylians at one time honored an Aphrodite who actually had a beard,
they called her the overseer of the universe's generation, and
claimed that she was male from the loins and above, but female
below.
- Venus Calva (Bald Venus) is a Roman traditional goddess.
|
The myth of Hermaphroditus, Aphrodite's child, and Salmacis. After attempting to rape Hermaphroditus and praying to be united with him, a god merged them together into one body with two sexes and both male and female traits.
(theoi.com)
|
|
|
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Black and white logical |
Artistic and creative |
- ‘Male’ vs ‘female’ brains: having a mix of both is common and offers big advantages.
- Psychological androgyny is thought to be mentally protective
and is associated with fewer mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
- It has also been linked to higher creativity.
|
We all know
people who are more androgynous, having a mix of
personality traits that are stereotypically considered
to be male or female. Importantly, such “psychological
androgyny” has long been associated with traits such
as better cognitive flexibility (the mental ability to
shift between different tasks or thoughts), social
competence and mental health.
(Thomas Piercy)
|
State of arousal |
- Botticelli thought of Mars as in the state between sleep and consciousness
and awakening in a state of arousal.
- Mars only fantasizes about fornication with Venus and does not succumb.
- An ancient poemed titled Amori di Matte e Venere consists of warnings to Mars by Apollo and Vulcan about the dire results of adultery.
|
Mars shouted, "I came for my dove,"
(Ovid)
|
Mars is sound asleep |
- Mars is sprawled to the left, sound asleep, presumably
after love making.
- Botticelli paints Venus as
peeved; her lover has received his pleasure and she has yet to receive hers.
- She feels neglected while Mars' mouth is open in deep sleep and his right index finger indicates lax muscles in the appropriate area.
- Venus wants not to feel alone, wants his companionship back,
she feels abandoned.
|
Two lessons for 15th-century wives: expect your husband to fall into deep sleep after love-making and expect to stay chaste (faithful) for the distance of your union. A lesson for 15th-century husbands: take care of your wife's pleasure before your own if you wish to keep your wife happy.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
|
Love overcoming war |
- Along with the sexual implication of the image, the contrasting depictions of Venus, the
goddess of love, being alert and awake while Mars, the god of
war, appears to have been subdued, can be seen to have a message of 'love overcoming war.'
- This was a commonplace in Renaissance thinking, which might be elaborated in terms of Renaissance Neoplatonism.
|
Her flowing white, gold-trimmed gown is fastened with a pearl-encrusted brooch symbolising her chastity. However, the sexual implications surrounding the iconography of the painting points to a scene depicting the immediate aftermath of the couple’s lovemaking. Examples are the lance and the seashell which would appear to suggest sexual symbolism.
(italian-renaissance-art.com)
|
Myrtle
grove |
- An act of love could be shown in the metaphorical depiction by the three
playful satyrs above Venus and Mars.
- The two protagonists do not see the satyrs playing with Mars' armor.
- The lance of Mars which they hold could be viewed as a phallic symbol.
- It is aimed at
an opening in the tree which is surrounded by myrtle, a symbol of Venus.
|
In this famous incident, the god Vulcan (Hephaestus) learns that his wife, the goddess Venus (Aphrodite), is having an affair with Mars (Ares), the god of war. Infuriated, Vulcan plots his revenge, using his metal-working skills.
(mythfolklore.blogspot.com)
|
Landscape of river valley |
-
They are seated in an enclosure of myrtle and laurel bushes behind which can be seen a landscape of river valley with misty hills and distant towers of a town.
- A river valley or meadow that appears to become more
like the sea Venus was born in, with watery tones and boats in
the foreground.
-
The myrtle tree has been associated with the goddess Venus and the laurel trees are associated with the Medici family.
-
A quiet location outside the bounds of civilized society, in the wildness of the countryside
on the opposite side of the shore.
|
As she floats upon the sea bringing a
balanced exchange of goods to both lands, she is a symbol of not only the rebirth of purity and
virginity but also the symbol of a pure bond between two empires.
(minds.wisconsin.edu)
|
Upright |
- Although many have speculated that the painting represents a
sexual encounter between the couple, the validity of this has been questioned.
- This is because as much as Mars is semi-nude, Venus is fully clothed.
- Some have also attributed her attire to symbolize purity or virtue and the characteristics of that of a married woman.
- This would be fitting for the purpose of the painting as it
was created for a newlywed couple.
|
Botticelli’s sleeping Mars and gazing Venus is a scene that transports us to ideas of love, passionate pastimes, marriage, fidelity (and infidelity), and mythological scenes laden with symbolism..
(artincontext.org)
|
Datura or mad apple |
- Many historians believe that the figures representing Mars
and Venus are actually portraits of real lovers in the
Vespucci family and was painted as a wedding gift.
- Like many Renaissance paintings, they may be stand-ins for Adam and Eve, while the
fruit the satyr is holding may be a datura, playing the role of that fateful apple.
|
A curious piece of fruit in the bottom right-hand
corner of Sandro Botticelli's Venus and Mars has
caught the eye of art historian David Bellingham. He
suspects that the 15th century master depicted the
deities lounging with the hallucinogenic datura
stramonium, also known as "poor man's acid."
(npr.org)
|
Datura plant is a nightshade |
- The datura is a member of the nightshade family and are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also
called devil's trumpets, hell's bells or mad apple.
- Due to their effects, datura species have occasionally been used not only as poisons, but also as hallucinogens by various
cultures throughout history.
- Basically, the fruit of the plant produces similar experiences to LSD, and it's been likened to the effects of opium mixed with alcohol.
- This could
be another explanation (or excuse) for Mars drowsy demeanor.
|
Traditionally, their psychoactive administration has
often been associated with witchcraft and sorcery or
similar practices in many cultures, including the
Western world. (Wikipedia)
|
Garden of Eden |
-
While the seductive figure of Venus is unable to stir the dormant Mars, Adam comes alive when God sends him into the world he has created.
- In the Bible, the fruit Eve gives Adam is never
definitively labeled as an apple, just as forbidden fruit.
- In fact, other artists have also chosen to represent the forbidden fruit in different ways
for instance, Michelangelo shows his Adam and Eve in the
Sistine Chapel holding a fig.
|
Some also believe the couple could be read as
representing another pair of famous maybe-lovers:
"Mary Magdalene the prostitute and Christ deposed on
the cross."
(npr.org)
|
Aloe
is goddess |
- Aloe, seen in the bottom right corner, was credited by the
Greeks with medicinal powers.
- The plant offers protection
against evil spirits and for enhancing sexual excitement.
- Egyptians called aloe vera
'the plant of immortality' and the people of Mesopotamia used aloe vera to ward off evil spirits.
War satyr |
- Some feel this scene does not depict a moment of
post-intimacy, but instead shows a dreaming Mars.
- This is
because Cupid, who is Venus’s escort, is not in the scene, and is instead replaced by four little satyrs
who are half boy and half goat.
-
All the satyrs have pointed ears and horns protruding from their heads to reinforce the sense of their devilish character.
- These half-animal figures seem out of place in a painting about a god of war and goddess of beauty.
|
Mars is made a fool of by the satyrs who play with his armor and are about to wake him up, but he is made fun of for falling asleep after love-making, something common to all men, and perhaps less understood by women.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
|
Little cupid, hardly |
- The ancient writer Lucian (125 AD-180 AD) wrote about the impish amoretti
or 'little cupids' climbing through Alexander the Great's breastplate and using his lance in a description of Alexander's wedding to Roxana.
- In this reenactment of the ancient scene by Botticelli the two satyrs with mouths open have their tongues showing and are smiling.
- Satyrs were chosen for the Venus and Mars because they
symbolize lasciviousness and belong to the grove and field.
|
The choice of the satyrs playing in the background may be a reference to a lost work described by the second-century Greek writer Lucan, which depicted the Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, while cupids played with Alexander’s armour. This demonstrates both Botticelli’s classical knowledge, and puts him on a par with the much admired ancient artists.
(personalinterpretations.com)
|
Satyr furs |
- All four satyrs
are the infant satyrs known as satyrisci and they engage in pranks, in
keeping with ancient myth.
-
The satyrs are described as lustful figures, an emotion which they are attempting to rekindle in the sleeping
Mars.
- Botticelli has depicted the satyrs with goat’s feet, tails, and horns, in mythology satyrs are often associated with Bacchus,
god of wine.
- They are subjects of Pan, god of the wild, and attendants of Bacchus.
- Their playfulness creates a teasing mood in the work, rather than a terrifying one.
|
They are fantasy creatures of mischief and can be
regarded as "spiritelli" (spirits) whose function here
is to make fun of humans or deities, in this case,
mainly Mars. Their faces are directly influenced by
Donatello's angels (1428-38) on the Prato Cathedral
outside pulpit.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
|
War helmet |
- Some believe that Mars may be dreaming of war in which he was victorious,
and this is shown by the satyrs who adorn themselves in his
armor and helmet and play with his lance.
- The blowing of
the conch can be seen as a distant memory of a war horn.
- Both the helmet and the lance are based on
15th-century weaponry.
|
As spirits, these creatures are invisible to the two lovers in the landscape while the viewer is allowed to see their pranks and can imagine the consequences, much like "fairies" in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. They serve as the "jesters" in a serious play about marriage, and they lighten the burden on the protagonists and viewers.
(e-arthistory5.blogspot.com)
|
Jousting standard |
- In 1475, Giuliano entered a jousting tournament and carried a standard bearing the image of Simonetta portrayed as Pallas Athene which had been painted by Botticelli.
- This lavish public show was commemorated in the poem by
Angelo Poliziano, the Medici court poet, known as the Stanze
(Verses) or la Giostra (The Joust),
written after Simonetta’s death.
|
Beneath her helmet of burnished metal […] her hair,
elaborately braided and ornamented, fluttered in the
wind. She held a jousting lance in her right hand and
the shield of Medusa in her left and gazed fixedly
into the sun, which shone above her at the top of the
banner.
(Angelo Poliziano, La Giostra)
|
Great troop |
-
When Giuliano entered the tournament field, he was followed
by a great troop of horsemen, friends, relatives, retainers,
with three pipers, a trumpeter, and two drummers.
Two drummers symbolized in hollow tree boughs |
-
Botticelli used this same theme in the four satyrs who can
be recognized as horsemen and relatives, and even as workers
for the Medici family, as well as pipers and a trumpeter.
- The reference to two drummers is applied to the two hollow
boughs of the tree that Mars rests again.
|
Giuliano sees in a dream his lady Simonetta wearing the armour of Pallas over a gown whose whiteness is itself a symbol of chastity, and protecting her breast against the arrows of love with the head of Medusa,
(Angelo Poliziano, La Giostra)
|
Prize |
- It's possible that Giuliano was tired after jousting, and Venus appeared to him in a dream, as his prize.
- Giuliano had chosen Simonetta as his 'lady' in a famous joust, organized by his older brother Lorenzo.
- It is unlikely that any such affair took place because Giuliano's actual mistress, Fioretta Gorini, was well known (and their son became Pope Clement VII).
- Both Giuliano and Simonetta had been dead for several years when this painting was made.
|
Celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien.
(Orphic Hymn 57)
|
The hidden instructor |
- Simonetta’s
'helmet of burnished metal' as mentioned in Poliziano's
poem, is worn by the satyr nearest her and tucked behind the lance’s buckle or shield.
- The satyr whose face is hidden under the helmet
also represents the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to bite and eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
|
Now Eve believed the words of the instructor.
She looked at the tree and saw that it was beautiful and appealing and she desired it.
She took some of its fruit and ate and she gave to her husband also and he ate too.
(On the Origin of the World
|
Goat's tail |
- Tshiluba Proverb:
The tail of a goat is a goat's tail.
- Everything is part of a whole, made up of individual parts that combine.
- The goat’s devil symbolism stems from its behavior, associated with lust and aggression.
- Along with its symbolism of having strong sexual desires, the goat has also been associated with the uncontrolled primal energy of humans.
- Its eyes have slanted, square pupils because of this lustful nature.
|
Drawings appeared in manuscripts of Satan/Lucifer with goat legs, goat horns, a goatee, and sometimes goat ears. A lusty fellow for certain, who would tempt good Christians into licentious sexual trysts.
(James T. Holland)
|
Mars dozing off |
- Mars is not just dozing, he is sound asleep
and hardly the god of war in this painting, he’s put aside his weapons and armor and is sprawling, naked and defenseless.
- His head ‘buzzing’ with thoughts from the
humming sound of the nearby wasps.
- Botticelli has emphasized just how sound asleep he is in a variety of ways;
most noticeably, the four little satyrs not so innocently playing with his weapons.
|
The failure of Mars to waken at their buzzing and
at the noise of the shell-blowing satyr is intended as
nothing more than a joking illustration of his amorous
exhaustion. (scholar.umw.edu)
|
Awake and alert |
- Mars asleep, stripped of his armor, and being tormented by
four young satyrs, while Venus remains clothed, awake and alert, and keeping watch.
- In Ancient Roman religion and mythology, Mars, a god of war, was a son of Jupiter, the god of the sky, or heavenly father.
|
Planting oblivion, beating reason back,
Forgetting shame’s pure blush and honor’s wrack.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
|
Sweet dreams |
- The conch shell is symbolic of female genitalia and so the satyr can be understood as blowing ‘sweet dreams’ into
Mar’s ear.
- The scene suggests that the sleep of the male is disturbed by erotic fantasies that are both scaring and arousing.
-
Conch shell's should be seen as the shell-trumpet that ancient Roman treatises on
agriculture claimed were used by shepherds to call their herds.
|
Simonetta Vespucci (née Cattaneo; c. 1453 – 26 April 1476), nicknamed la bella Simonetta ("the fair Simonetta"), was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa, the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence and the cousin-in-law of Amerigo Vespucci. She was known as the greatest beauty of her age in Italy, and was allegedly the model for many paintings by Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo, and other Florentine painters.
(Wikipedia)
|
Pan, god of the wild |
- The conch shell is not only associated with Venus, but also has a special association with
Pan, god of the wild, who is also half human, half goat and has horns.
- In the battle
between the gods of Olympus and the Titans it's clear that Pan aided the gods by blowing on the shell.
- In antiquity, called a ceryx or buccina, these shells were
actually used as trumpets.
|
Thou art the Mars of malcontents.
(Shakespeare)
|
Mercenary bandaged |
- Famous Renaissance figure, Machiavelli, complained about Florence’s lack of martial prowess in just such terms.
- He saw it as a deep flaw the Florence was heavily reliant on mercenaries for its self-defense, and complained that Florentine men were no longer capable soldiers.
|
No, lady, no, my heart longs not to groan
But soundly sleeps while now it sleeps alone.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
|
Easily distracted |
- This he blamed in part on their being too interested in sex, and too easily drawn away, by women, from martial concerns.
- Machiavelli campaigned for and eventually succeeded in setting
up a Florentine militia in an attempt to solve this problem.
|
Whether Machiavelli succeeded in drawing men’s attention away from women is both uncertain, and quite certain.
(personalinterpretations.com)
|
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall |
- In the next moment the satyr with helmet will thrust the lance even closer to Mars' ear.
- And another satyr will blow in the conch shell with a loud sound.
- The wasps will be buzzing and perhaps stinging, and Mars will be startled awake and realize that his armor has been scattered about the landscape.
|
Here needs no law, here none doth aught amiss:
Put off those arms and fear not Mars his rage,
Your sword, your shield, your helmet needless is;
Then consecrate them here to endless rest,
You shall love's champions be, and soldiers blest.
(Anonymous)
|
Wasp change of expression |
- In the next moment Venus may change her expression and accept that love is temporary pleasure that is ephemeral.
|
Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry,
Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
|
Jealous Vulcan |
- Roman author Ovid tells the story of Vulcan, god of
fire,
discovering the adultery of his wife Venus and her lover Mars
in the poem Metamorphoses.
- Therefore, unlike
this painting, the typical Venus and Mars theme
usually depicts the story of Vulcan's jealousy.
|
The flowers are sweet, their colors fresh and trim,
But true sweet beauty lived and died with him.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
|
Ridicule kills passion |
- The story of Venus and Mars is a morality play about how ridicule kills passion.
- In the case of this painting, it would be directly after
the moment depicted in the painting that Vulcan would spring
into action.
|
Love even takes Sol prisoner, who rules all the stars
with his light. I will tell you about his amours. He
was the first god they say to see the adulteries of
Venus and Mars: he sees all things first. He was sorry
to witness the act, and he told her husband Vulcan,
son of Juno, of this bedroom intrigue, and where the
intrigue took place. Vulcan’s heart dropped, and he
dropped in turn the craftsman’s work he held in his
hand.
(Ovid)
|
Vulcan net
also called a veil |
- Vulcan fashioned a fine iron net to catch the pair in bed and publicly expose them to the other gods.
- Other deities look on, such as satyrs, amused by the
couple’s embarrassment.
|
Immediately he began to file thin links of bronze, for a net, a snare that would deceive the eye. The finest spun threads, those the spider spins from the rafters, would not better his work. He made it so it would cling to the smallest movement, the lightest touch, and then artfully placed it over the bed.
(Ovid)
|
Wrought iron fence |
- The net that Vulcun threw over the bed was the Old
Covenant which turned Venus into his slave.
- The
word 'woman' in the Bible was changed to 'wife.'
- This was
the Mosaic law.
- He owned her
and covered her with his shame and jealousy and
possessiveness.
- If she had been born into the New
Covenant she would have been a free woman instead.
|
Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens
So in the Earth, to this day is not known.
(Shakespeare, Henry VI)
|
Satyr in armor is Botticelli |
- One of the satyrs crawled into Mars armor and can be
seen peeking out from under his arm and holding onto his sword.
- The other three have picked up his lance, one wearing his helmet, one about to blow a conch shell
warning into his ear.
- It should be noted that the armor and helmet that protected Mars was made by Venus’ husband, Vulcan.
|
In some readings of Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, the four boys are referred to as putti (chubby male children, often naked and with wings), in some as satyrs.
(Kelly Bagdanov)
|
Flung open the ivory doors |
- When the wife and the adulterer had come together on the one couch, they were entangled together, surprised in the midst of their embraces, by the husband’s craft, and the new method of imprisonment he had prepared for them.
|
The Lemnian, Vulcan, immediately flung open the ivory doors, and let in the gods. There the two lay shamefully bound together, and one of the gods, undismayed, prayed that he might be shamed like that. And the gods laughed. And for a long time it was the best-known story in all the heavens.
(Ovid)
|
Rolling rock |
- A more sinister meaning in the picture, with the little satyrs as incubi who torment sleepers, provoking
'sexual terrors in the dreams of those bound in a state of sensual error and confusion.'
- There is a
sense of movement like they are moving to the far right, away from
Venus.
|
The idea of love here invested in Venus seems to be revealed, not in a positive celebration of the spirit animating natural life shown in the Primavera and Birth of Venus but as an empty sensual fantasy that disarms and torments the slumbering spirit of a once virile martial valour.
(Charles Dempsey)
|
Satyrs taunting Venus |
- The satyrs are sexually and
cruelly taunting Venus with their tongues out.
- They are
showing her that the thrust of Mars' lance into the wasp's
nest was not about her at all, but just dreams of past and
future
sexual conquests.
|
Love surfeits not, Lust like a glutton dies; Love is all truth, Lust full of forged lies.
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
|
Venus unseductive 16/91 |
- From there you see the real meaning
of the painting is about Venus' love, and Mars' lust without
ever a promise of love.
- The number 16 is associated with spiritual insight, wisdom, and transformation.
- It can represent an awakening or a higher spiritual awareness.
|
Botticelli overrated and "harboured an irrational dislike for the picture, The face and attitude of that unseductive Venus... opposite her snoring lover, seems to symbolize the indignities which women have to endure from insolent and sottish boys with only youth to recommend them.
(John Addington Symonds)
|
Tools |
- All his weapons can symbolize his
'toys' and the tools he considers the most important material
items in his carnal world.
- Notice there are no chocolates
or flowers included there.
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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church.
(Ephesians 5:25)
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Mars totally oblivious to everything |
- So rather than love conquering all, it's a painting
that's about Mars totally oblivious to everything, except
himself, his own carnal lust.
- And Venus painfully aware,
although fully awake.
- The sleeping figure curls the fingers of his left hand as he dreams of keeping hold of the female who may disappear as he awakens.
- Sadly realizing this is life in the
lower ego, material, carnal environment in what's called, 'a man's
world.'
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For he had been afraid that they might know that another existed before him, and condemn him, but he, like a fool, despised the condemnation and acted recklessly.
(On the Origin of the World)
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Abandoned
Venus ear plugs |
- Discovered on the nightstand in the dusty spare room.
- Uncorded.
- It's amazing how some things just show up, another mystery.
- Martha are you listening now?
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Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.
(Mark 4:9)
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Venus Anadyomene |
Foam of the sea |
- The Venus Anadyomene is the origin of
Aphrodite (Greek) and Venus (Roman).
- She was conceived in the womb of the
sea after Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and casted his genitals into the water.
- Venus
was born by the mouth of the sea fully grow and virginal.
- Upon a scallop shell she was blown to
the island shore of Cyprus, by Zephyr, god of wind, floating gently on the foam of the sea.
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According to myth, Venus was conceived in the womb of the sea after Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus. Zephyr, the God of Wind, blew her to the island shore of Cyprus on a scallop shell.
(Wikipedia)
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Venus' dolphin |
-
Venus Anadyomene, who was born of the sea, is signaled by the dolphin balancing her
which represents the sea.
- According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite, or
Venus, was born as an adult woman from the sea off Paphos in Cyprus, which also perpetually renewed her virginity.
- Anadyomene is a Greek word that means 'born of water.'
- The dolphin figure
fouud inside her gown represents the sea.
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This mythological origin of the goddess gives her the epithet Anadyomene, meaning “rising from the sea” in ancient Greek. Even though there is no depiction of the sea itself on the statue, it is symbolized by the dolphin figure and the gesture of Aphrodite’s missing arms.
(learn.ncartmuseum.org)
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Venus' scallop shell
Clock ran out of
time |
- Venus, rising from the sea, sometimes on a scallop shell, usually found wringing sea water
out of her hair.
- This theme made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in
Pliny's Natural History.
Venus' cloth of sea life |
- Venus Anadyomene was taken up again in the 15th-century:
in Botticelli's famous The Birth of Venus.
- Prior to Botticelli's painting, nudity was only used in religious art to depict the sin of Eve.
- There
is a statue of a Venus Anadyomene in the Vatican Museums' collection
that depicts the Roman goddess, as she rises from the sea, wringing out her hair.
- A cloth is tied around her hips, covering her legs.
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A true Venus Anadyomene, the way in which she reclines and
seems to be floating towards you patiently waiting her arrival on the shores of the island of
Kythera or Cyprus. The iconography surrounds her and embraces her freshly born mind, body,
and soul. The Aros ride on dolphins along side her chariot shell as the cloth that cloaks her
newly born body is floating in the breeze behind her reclining pose.
(Jenna Marie Newberry)
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Watery |
- Venus certainly has had many forms and faces throughout art
history.
-
Ever since the 4th-century painter Apelles painted Venus in the act of rising from the sea, Venus, generally in a standing position, has been the subject of painters and sculptors from antiquity into the modern age.
- The counterpart of Venus rising, is Venus sleeping or resting
and this pose achieved wide popularity in Western art by the end of the
15th-century.
- As the goddess of love, it is only natural for Venus to be depicted with her
love interests, with the most famous myth involving her extramarital tryst with the war-god Mars, chronicled in Homer’s
Odyssey.
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We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
(2 Peter 1:19)
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