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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jonathan Jones

Venus Frigida: Rubens's portrait of love in a cold climate

Peter Paul Rubens, Venus Frigida
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
Illustration: Photograph: Hugo Maertens/Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
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