''Venus Frigida'' (''Cold Venus'') is a 1611 oil on panel painting by Peter Paul Rubens, now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. It is one of the few works which he both signed and dated and derives its title from a quotation from the Roman playwright Terence, "

sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus ''Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus'', (Latin, 'Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes') or ''Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus'', is a quotation from the Roman comedian Terence (c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC) that became a proverb in the Early M ...

" ("without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes") i.e. love cannot survive without food and wine). He draws Venus' crouched pose from what would later be called the

Lely Venus The Lely Venus is a marble statue of the crouching Venus type. It is a copy of a Hellenistic original by Doidalses of Bithynia and dates from the Antonine period. History The statue is first recorded in the House of Gonzaga, Gonzaga collectio ...

, which he saw in the Gonzaga collection during his time in Mantua.

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

and his arrows are shown in front of Venus.

Sources

*http://www.kmska.be/nl/collectie/highlights/Venus_Frigida.html {{17C-painting-stub Nude art Paintings of Venus 1611 paintings Mythological paintings by Peter Paul Rubens Paintings in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp Paintings of Cupid