Venus and Cupid - Grade: A PDF

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A critical analysis of a painting...

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Joshua Ospina

Visual Analysis of Venus and Cupid

In Lorenzo Lotto’s painting of “Venus and Cupid”, we can see that the two most important figures in the painting itself is Cupid and Venus, mother of Cupid. This painting was created in the 1520s and it fits perfectly with the Renaissance era. Venus is nude with full exposure of her entire body and the expression on her face shows that she doesn’t care. She’s laying down and is posing nude while she’s holding a type of ornament. And next to Venus is her child Cupid. Cupid seems to be showing a happy expression and it seems that he is peeing through the ornament. He is also holding his penis. Cupid has wings so this can mean that he is an angel. Venus seems to have some sort of crown on her head and a type of earring on her left ear. This depicts prosperity. Th roses and rose petals represents love. The reason why this painting fits well with the Renaissance era is due to the religious and nudity information it depicts. During the Renaissance, painters were expressing themselves by drawing nude models and having religious being a part of it. In this case, Venus is also known as Aphrodite, she’s known for possessing love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory. This painting shows us just that, love, sex by being nude, prosperity by the things she’s wearing on her head and more. Aphrodite loves to express herself completely and this painting shows us that through her nudity. Cupid is an angel and he is known for possessing desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. This painting shows us that as he is nude, peeing and snowing happiness. Sex and nudity was an ongoing topic that occurred in the Renaissance era, and the painting shows that Venus and Cupid are nude and showing happiness. The painting seems to have been used with oil and during this era, many paintings were being made like this. Also considering that religion

Joshua Ospina

was a huge importance during this era and Venus and Cupid are in some ways considered a god, it make sense to create such a painting like this. Something I’ve noticed is that many paintings during this time shows many white pale nude bodies, both Venus and Cupid have pale bodies, but it’s mostly noticeable on Venus. Overall, this painting gives a good representation of an era that was filled with so much nudity and religion. Venus and Cupid were god so this ties with religion. The nudity in many paintings were starting to increase and this painting is a great example of that....