''Venus and Mars'' is an oil painting on canvas painted in the 1570s by the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

artist

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...

. The painting was commissioned by Emperor Rudolph and was one of three mythological and love-themed works commissioned by the artist. The other two are at the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...

in New York: ''The Allegory of Virtue and Performance'' and ''Allegory of the Source of Wisdom and Power''. It deals with the romantic love of the Roman goddess of love

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

and the god of war

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

, as described in the

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

''.

Description

The meeting of the two lovers takes place in idyllic, peaceful scenery. On the left stands the naked goddess, with her left hand embracing Mars, who sits in front of her in armor. The right hand of Venus rests on her breast from which milk flows, emphasizing her femininity. On the right side there is a war horse of the god of war. Its silhouette is based on antique sculpture. The underlined musculature of the animal expresses his strength, and his inclined head and calm eyes soften his image. The two

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

shown are the key to the interpretation of the work. The first, taming the horse, symbolizes the subduction of the love desires of the god of Mars, the control over passions.Alan Burroughs, ''Art Criticism from a Laboratory'', Little Brown, Boston 1938, pp. 93-94, za. H. Rachlin The second putto, which tied the ribbon around Venus' legs, symbolizes the union of lovers into eternal love and harmony in a time without wars. Milk from the breast of Venus symbolizes the wealth of peace, which is the food for humanity.H. Rachlin ''Skandale, wandale i niezwykłe opowieści o wielkich dziełach sztuki'' s.55 The artist signed on a stone disc: "PAVLUS VERONENSIS F".

Interpretation

Veronese repeatedly repainted his work. X-ray study described by Alan Burroughs in his book ''Art Criticism from a Laboratory'' showed that the arrangement of Venus's body was different and was probably covered with drapery pulling downwards. The innocent cherub was not in the original version. It is not clear why Veronese made these changes.

Provenance

In 1621, a catalog was made of the works in the collection of Rudolf II in Prague Castle. Over the centuries, the painting had many owners and circulated throughout Europe. It was in the possession of Ferdinand III of Habsburg, and after the Swedes' invasion of Prague in 1648, it entered the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden and was taken with her in her Roman exile. It then went to the Odescalchici family, later to the famous Orleans Collection in Paris. In 1792, it went to the Edouard de Walckiers collection in Brussels but returned to Paris in 1798, and then went to London. After several English owners, in 1910 it was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

References

External links

{{Paolo Veronese Mannerist paintings Mythological paintings by Paolo Veronese 1570s paintings Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paintings of people Paintings of Venus 16th century in the Republic of Venice Paintings of Mars (mythology) category:16th-century allegorical paintings category:Allegorical paintings by Italian artists Horses in art Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Paintings based on Metamorphoses