The Framed Rabbit

From the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen to Aurora’s music video Exist for Love, the Venus has been an icon of love and beauty for ages.

But who is this muse? And why are we so enamored with her?

From a garden wall at the Casa della Venere in Conchiglia, Pompeii, before AD 79

Venus was a Roman Goddess of known for her captivating beauty and romantic wiles. She was worshipped as the ancestor of the Romans for hopes of love, fertility, and prosperity.

Her Greek counterpart, Aphrodite, was also known for her seductive charm as the goddess of love.

Venus had numerous epithets, but the most favored -and typically depicted- one is the Venus Anadyomene, an aquatic figure reminiscent of the siren or mermaid. 🧜‍♀️

She had ties to Dionysus, the gods of wine - a dynamic duo🍷❣️

Her symbols include the rose🌹 (how fitting), myrtle 🌿(believed to be an aphrodisiac), the fishing rod🎣 (she’s a catch 😉), and the scallop shell 🐚 (a symbol of female genitalia)

To point out the obvious, she’s a hyper-sexualized figure of desire.

It’s no wonder why the female nude was a favored subject of art: the woman figure is lovely to depict. However, Venus is an icon of its power; the power to influence society with the medium of the feminine form. The inspiring image deeply moves us, motivates us, captivates us. It is the perfect symbol of love and might. It is a reminder of birth and origin; the sweet beginnings of life and the strength it took to bring it here. It is an image of the intimacy we all long for: to be known, cherished, and desired. And that is why the Venus is a timeless staple of the human experience.

Okay that’s great and all, but why is her birth so important?

Oh yes, of course let me get back on track:

Venus - born of seafoam, blown to the shore in a shell by wind deities Zephyr and Aura, clothed with roses by Flora, the Hora of Spring - is fully grown. Having skipped adolescence and in a perpetual state of virginity, she is the perfect candidate for the position of sex-goddess. She is the crown of creation - the magnum opus of all existence - the pièce de résistance of divinity. Basically, she’s the cherry on top; the cream of the crop. 🌸🍒

Those moments before her birth must have felt like the *drumroll please* before the most magnificent thing you’ve ever beheld was flashed before your eye-holes. 🥁TA-DA!✨It was the most ground-breaking, fire-cracking, bomb-dropping moment in all collective history.🎆 Everyone must have been cheering, clapping, and loudly crying “This is what we were WAITING for!”👏 It was THAT monumental -at least for the Romans worshippers.

Her birth was like the moment your Amazon delivery FINALLY makes its way to your doorstep. At long last, Love and Beauty are here to stay! 💕📦💨

I wish I could have found a link -or a better title- for this collection, but alas, I could not.