DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31769#0030
portrayed taking less interest in the scene around him,
indeed he seems to have fallen asleep. His accoutre-
ments of war — helmet, lance, armor and sword —
have been turned into playthings by the satyrs. His
sword no longer presents any danger to possible oppon-
ents. His body and facial expression appear equally re-
laxed and peaceful. The rosy flesh of his largely nude
body does not look as though lt has suffered harsh
winds and weather, or been toughened by the hardships
of battle. On the contrary, his skin seems rather to be
delicate and soft, and its appearance by no means gives
the impression of battle-hardened manliness. Stripped
of his weapons, he needs only to be awakened in order
to take up his duties as a lover. And it seems that this
may be the purpose of the satyrs, one of whom is blow-
ing into a shell to rudely awaken the god from his slum-
bers. For according to classical accounts, this wind in-
strument produces a particularly terrifying sound.’ 8
On the one hand, Botticelli’s painting of the slum-
bering Mars could be understood as a gallant com-
pliment to the future bride who has subdued her stormy
groom, as in the later portrayal of Minerva and the Centaur.
But beyond this gallant compliment, the triumph of the
goddess of love over the god of war also points to the
gender-specific division of the roles of husband and
wife as found in most patriarchal societies including
that of fifteenth-century Florence. The utterly peaceful-
looking form of the warlike god here represents the
goddess of love’s subjugation of the animal desire tradi-
tionally associated with the male, and in this specific
case it probably also represents the domestication, as it
were, of the possibly young groom whose passions are
now to be safely contamed within the bounds of mar-
riage. The theme of the domestication of young men
28
indeed he seems to have fallen asleep. His accoutre-
ments of war — helmet, lance, armor and sword —
have been turned into playthings by the satyrs. His
sword no longer presents any danger to possible oppon-
ents. His body and facial expression appear equally re-
laxed and peaceful. The rosy flesh of his largely nude
body does not look as though lt has suffered harsh
winds and weather, or been toughened by the hardships
of battle. On the contrary, his skin seems rather to be
delicate and soft, and its appearance by no means gives
the impression of battle-hardened manliness. Stripped
of his weapons, he needs only to be awakened in order
to take up his duties as a lover. And it seems that this
may be the purpose of the satyrs, one of whom is blow-
ing into a shell to rudely awaken the god from his slum-
bers. For according to classical accounts, this wind in-
strument produces a particularly terrifying sound.’ 8
On the one hand, Botticelli’s painting of the slum-
bering Mars could be understood as a gallant com-
pliment to the future bride who has subdued her stormy
groom, as in the later portrayal of Minerva and the Centaur.
But beyond this gallant compliment, the triumph of the
goddess of love over the god of war also points to the
gender-specific division of the roles of husband and
wife as found in most patriarchal societies including
that of fifteenth-century Florence. The utterly peaceful-
looking form of the warlike god here represents the
goddess of love’s subjugation of the animal desire tradi-
tionally associated with the male, and in this specific
case it probably also represents the domestication, as it
were, of the possibly young groom whose passions are
now to be safely contamed within the bounds of mar-
riage. The theme of the domestication of young men
28