Venus is a Mediterranean goddess. Her enchanted home is the isle of Cyprus. In Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus she skims over the warm green sea on a shell. This classical deity personifies not only Love, but Love in a warm climate, with grapes, wine and nudity. So what happens when she travels north? Rubens portrays her shivering with cold in a glowering landscape, her nudity exposed to the wintry north. His painting illustrates a classical adage that says: ‘Without Bacchus and Ceres, Venus freezes.’ Love in winter, in other words, needs good food, good booze and a cosy bedroom Hugo Maertens/Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire