Venus and Mars

The god of war sits in his armour, disarmed by love, while a small putto ties a ribbon around the legs of Venus. Veronese painted this vision of peace for an emperor, and X-rays show he kept changing it.

The story behind the painting

Paolo Veronese painted Venus and Mars in the 1570s. According to the Wikipedia article, it was commissioned by Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, as one of three mythological, love-themed works; the other two, named in the article as The Allegory of Virtue and Performance and Allegory of the Source of Wisdom and Power, are in the Frick Collection in New York. The painting deals with the love of Venus, Roman goddess of love, and Mars, god of war, as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

What to look for

The tall canvas, about 206 by 161 cm, sets the meeting of the lovers in idyllic, peaceful scenery. On the left stands the naked goddess, her left hand embracing Mars, who sits in front of her in armour. Her right hand rests on her breast, from which milk flows. On the right stands the war horse of Mars; its silhouette is based on ancient sculpture, its strong muscles softened by its bowed head and calm eyes. Look for the two putti: one tames the horse, the other ties a ribbon around Venus's legs. Veronese signed on a stone disc: PAVLUS VERONENSIS F.

Meaning and intent

The two putti are the key to the meaning. The one taming the horse stands for the god of war mastering his desires, control over passion. The one binding Venus with a ribbon stands for the union of the lovers in lasting love and harmony, in a time without war. The milk from the breast of Venus symbolises the wealth of peace, food for humanity. X-ray study described by Alan Burroughs showed that Venus's body was first arranged differently, probably covered by drapery, and that the innocent cherub was not in the original version. Why Veronese made these changes is not clear.

Legacy

A 1621 inventory records the painting in Rudolf II's collection at Prague Castle. It then passed to Ferdinand III of Habsburg, and after the Swedes invaded Prague in 1648 it entered the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, who took it with her into exile in Rome. It went to the Odescalchi family and later to the famous Orléans Collection in Paris. In 1792 it moved to the Walckiers collection in Brussels, returned to Paris in 1798, then went to London. After several English owners, it was sold in 1910 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.