#venus verticordia by dante gabriel rossetti

[diioonysus]

aphrodite & venus + art

[beautyofaphrodite]

Venus Verticordia

As you may know, I’ve been making posts with deep dives into artistic depictions of Lady Aphrodite (or technically Lady Venus). I’ve already covered The Birth of Venus by Botticelli and Cabanel, Venus Victrix by Canova and Venus Anadyomene by Titian. Today’s artwork is Venus Verticordia by Rossetti.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter, and translator born on May 12, 1828 in London and died April 9, 1882 in Kent. His work was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism and was a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement. He tended to create his artwork based off of his poetry.

Description of the Painting + Symbolism

Venus, depicted pale, with dark red hair is shown nude surrounded by roses and honeysuckles. She holds a golden apple (alluding to the judgement of Paris) and a gold-tipped arrow. She has a halo and is surrounded by yellow butterflies.

The roses and honeysuckle represent sexual passion, and the arrow is Venus’ son Cupid’s arrow, and the fact that it’s pointed towards her heart represents “uncontrollable desire”. While partially a reference to Eris’ Apple of Discord in the Judgement of Paris, the golden apple also symbolizes forbidden fruit in the story of Eve in the Garden of Eden, showing temptation. Venus is shown with a halo, which represents holiness and purity. The butterflies may represent Venus’ soul, her attendants, or the involvement of the soul as well as the body in love and desire.

Poem

This poem was written by Rossetti to accompany the painting.

“She hath the apple in her hand for thee,

Yet almost in her heart would hold it back;

She muses, with her eyes upon the track

Of that which in thy spirit they can see.

Haply, ‘Behold, he is at peace,’ saith she;

‘Alas! the apple for his lips,—the dart

That follows its brief sweetness to his heart,—

The wandering of his feet perpetually!’

A little space her glance is still and coy;

But if she give the fruit that works her spell,

Those eyes shall flame as for her Phrygian boy.

Then shall her bird's strained throat the woe foretell,

And her far seas moan as a single shell,

And through her dark grove strike the light of Troy.”

About the Painting

Venus Verticordia was commissioned by Patron John Mitchell of Bradford in 1863, and Rossetti worked on it from 1864 to 1868. The painting moved to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum collection in 1945 where it is still displayed. The dimensions of this painting are 98.1 cm × 69.9 cm (38.6 in × 27.5 in).

Fun Facts

- The model for this painting was originally “a remarkably handsome cook whom he met in the street” but was later changed to resemble Alexa Wilding, one of his favorite muses.

- Verticordia means Changer of the Heart, referring to “Venus's ability to turn women's hearts towards virtue”

- During the time in which this was created, Flower Language was a big thing, and this is shown in the symbolism of the flowers surrounding Venus

- This is Rossetti’s only nude oil painting

I hope you learned something, I certainly did! As always, if there’s any artistic depictions of Lady Aphrodite or Lady Venus (whether painting, statue, etc) you particularly like or want me to cover, please let me know! Love y’all 🫶

[marejadilla]

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “Venus Verticordia”, 1868, oil on canvas. English poet, illustrator, painter, and translator. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Symbolism. Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.

[harpergalyon1980blog]

[1stellarluminousechoblog]

[roselynvictoria]

Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1868)

[christialoban2000blog]

[groovybouquetgoatee]

[psikonauti]

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (British,1828-1882)

Venus Verticordia, 1864-1868

Oil on canvas

[leatherandmossprints]

‘Venus Verticordia’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, c. 1863-68.

[inspofromancientworld]

Flowers of Mythology - Rose

Roses are woody perennial plants in the genus Rosa in the family Rosaceae. In this genus, there are over 300 species and thousands of cultivars, which were bread and propagated for particular traits but are not separate species. They can be grow as shrubs, climbing vines, or trailing along the ground and typically have thorns. Their flowers come in a very wide range of colors with showy flowers that are typically large. They are mostly native to Asia with some native to Northwest Africa, North America, and Europe. Their size can range from miniature roses through to climbing vines that can reach seven meters in height. Most roses that are cultivated are hybridized from different species for the traits that those species have to make them more desirable, whether that is color, size, density of petals, or scent.

They create an aggregate fruit, one that is similar to raspberries, called rose hips. Both the fruit and the flowers are edible, though the flowers are typically processed into rose water or rose syrup before use, though the petals can be steeped into a tea. The fruit can be dried to be made into a tea or made into a jelly or marmalade. Rose hips especially are a good source of vitamin C. Rose water and rose oil are used in perfumes and other cosmetics and has also driven the development of more fragrant cultivars as it requires about 2000 flowers to create 1 gram of oil.

By Dante Gabriel Rossetti - originally posted to Flickr as Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Venus Verticordia by freeparking 2007-09-04 14:58:05, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4514604

The Greeks have many of myths regarding the origin of roses, which they considered the Queen of Flowers. One is that Chloris, the goddess of flowers, breathed them as she spoke, but also that she created them when she found a stunningly beautiful nymph who had died. She was so taken by the nymph's beauty and saddened by her loss that she transformed the nymph into a flower as beautiful as the nymph had been. She called her friends, Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Dionysus, god of wine, to help her ensure the flower was the best tribute it could be. Aphrodite added her gift of beauty to the flower and Dionysus gave it its sweet scent. Once these gifts were bestowed, Zephyrus, god of the West Wind, cleared the skies so that Apollo to direct the sun to shine upon it so it would grow.

source: https://olympioi.com/greek-gods/aphrodite

Another myth states that white roses were created when Aphrodite left the sea and the foam fell from her body is how white roses were created. Another myth involving Aphrodite is that roses bloomed from where Aphrodite's tears fell when she wept over the body of Adonis. Red roses happened when she bled over the flowers from a thorn prick. Her gifting a rose to her son Eros is what caused them to be associated with love.

[thefloweredblade]

My favorite lesser seen depictions of the Goddess :)

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In order

Astarte Syriaca by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Venus Wringing the Water From Her Hair, Standing At the Water’s Edge by Marcantonio Raimondi

Venus At Her Birth Attired By The Three Graces by Benjamin West

Venus and Cupid by Evelyn de Morgan (filter added by me)

Aphrodite by Gustave Moreau

The Birth of Venus by Paul Joseph Blanc

Venus by Alexandre Cabanel

Terracotta bust of Aphrodite Pandemos

Aeneas and Achates Meeting Venus by Warwick Goble

💗🐚🪻💗🐚🪻💗🐚🪻💗🐚🪻💗🐚🪻💗🐚

[galleryofart]

The Damsel Of the Sangreal

Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828–1882)

Title: The Damsel of the Sanct Grael

Genre: Chivalric Romance

Type: Religious Relic

Date: 1874

Medium:

Collection: Private Collection

Description

Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Damsel of the Sanct Grael in 1874. Rossetti did a number of paintings related to the grail legend, and two works that depicted the damsel of the holy grail. The damsel character is referred to several times in Mallory's Morte D'Arthur, although, as was his wont, Rossetti took a number of artistic liberties in his portrayal of the damsel. Mallory describes her as "a damsel passing fair and young" and "dressed all in white." Well, Rossetti sort of skimmed over the white part... his damsel is a bit more worldly looking than Mallory might have envisioned. Her flowing hair and raised eyebrow impart some of the carnal flair that imbues Rossetti's later work. I love the grape vines that form an enticing frame around the damsel - clearly a nod to the chalice itself, which played a starring role in the Last Supper - but it's also hard not to see the Dionysian undertones. But that's what I love about Rossetti - his unabashed appreciation for both the sacred and profane.

This was Rossetti's second time painting The Damsel of the Sanct Grael. His first interpretation of the damsel was painted nearly 20 years before, and features a less-lusty and more medieval-looking maiden (modeled). The early version is held by the Tate Gallery in London and can be seen here. Both images use similar symbolism (the dove and hand positions are the same), but the moods of the paintings are completely different.

Rosseti used Alexa Wilding as his model for the second damsel. Wilding posed for a number of his other works, including Venus Verticordia and Veronica Veronese.

This painting is currently in the private collection of Lord Andrew Lloyd-Weber.

[naiitiel]

"Venus Verticordia of space."

Inspired by Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting.

[nude-art-sampler]

"Venus Verticordia"; Dante Gabriel Rossetti

[semtituloh]

Via Astra Zero

My revamp of, Venus Verticordia, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1864

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The proportions and lighting on this one are extra crazy cause I really wanted to try and keep the vibes of the original cause I took a crap ton more creative liberties thank I usually do. I’m sure most of you wouldn’t even notice or care, but thought I would share some of the debating that goes on in my head, lol .