DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31769#0024
While large-scale paintmgs of classical gods and her-
oes first came into being during the age of Botticelli, in
Western literature Mars and Venus were already com-
monly found together. Indeed, this “classic” pairing of
the god of war and the goddess of love is found
throughout the literature of antiquity, the Middle Ages,
and the modern era, and Botticelli’s painting draws
heavily on these literary accounts. We read there not
only of the god of war’s bravery but also of his anger, his
unpredictability, and his rancor which are apparently
the inevitable side-effècts of his warlike nature. And this
is where Venus comes in, for it is her role to dispel or at
least moderate the god of war’s negative traits. 12 In 1469,
a prominent contemporary of Botticelli’s, the philo-
sopher Marsilio Ficino, described the relationship of
Mars and Venus in similar terms in his book De amore.
In the chapter on the virtues of Eros he also describes
the characteristics of Mars, the god of war, and the
influence of Venus on those characteristics: “Mars is
outstanding in strength among the planets because he
makes men stronger, but Venus masters him.... Venus,
when in conjunction with Mars, in opposition to him,
or in reception ... often checks his malignance ... she
seems to master and appease Mars, but Mars never mas-
ters Venus.’V
The subduing of Mars by Venus and by love, as
Ficino describes it here, is of course a well-known topos
from the literature of classical antiquity. Lucretius, for
example, in his De rerum natura, a philosophical didactic
poem, vividly describes the characteristics of Mars as
well as the necessary pacifying influence of the goddess
of love on her warlike peer: “For thou alone canst de-
light mortals with quiet peace, since Mars mighty in
battle rules the savage works of war, who often casts
22
oes first came into being during the age of Botticelli, in
Western literature Mars and Venus were already com-
monly found together. Indeed, this “classic” pairing of
the god of war and the goddess of love is found
throughout the literature of antiquity, the Middle Ages,
and the modern era, and Botticelli’s painting draws
heavily on these literary accounts. We read there not
only of the god of war’s bravery but also of his anger, his
unpredictability, and his rancor which are apparently
the inevitable side-effècts of his warlike nature. And this
is where Venus comes in, for it is her role to dispel or at
least moderate the god of war’s negative traits. 12 In 1469,
a prominent contemporary of Botticelli’s, the philo-
sopher Marsilio Ficino, described the relationship of
Mars and Venus in similar terms in his book De amore.
In the chapter on the virtues of Eros he also describes
the characteristics of Mars, the god of war, and the
influence of Venus on those characteristics: “Mars is
outstanding in strength among the planets because he
makes men stronger, but Venus masters him.... Venus,
when in conjunction with Mars, in opposition to him,
or in reception ... often checks his malignance ... she
seems to master and appease Mars, but Mars never mas-
ters Venus.’V
The subduing of Mars by Venus and by love, as
Ficino describes it here, is of course a well-known topos
from the literature of classical antiquity. Lucretius, for
example, in his De rerum natura, a philosophical didactic
poem, vividly describes the characteristics of Mars as
well as the necessary pacifying influence of the goddess
of love on her warlike peer: “For thou alone canst de-
light mortals with quiet peace, since Mars mighty in
battle rules the savage works of war, who often casts
22