Nicolas Poussin's Painting: The Birth Of Venus

The Birth of Venus (1635)
-------------------------------------------------
Nicolas Poussin
-------------------------------------------------

Sean E. Masih
Art History 102
August 25, 2013

While the Philadelphia Museum of Art may not house some of the more famous artwork from the Baroque period, their acquisition of Poussin’s “Birth of Venus” was nothing short of a savvy purchase. Hungry for Western currency, the painting was sold by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 1930 under the Soviet Regime to the PMA. In their possession is arguably one of the most hotly debated works from that era. Also aptly named “The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite” this painting not only highlights Poussin’s trademark ability to allow for an
Furthermore in Boticelli’s painting and in Poussin’s, the woman deity is being adorned with myrtle, the flower most commonly associated with Venus, goddess of love – myrtle too is a symbol of love[6]. Additionally, Poussin employs his knowledge of Apulerius in Metamorphoses or “The Golden Ass” of which the story describes Venus as being accompanied by a band of fellow beings singing and blowing horns[2][4]. The comparison between the Apulerius’ text and Poussin’s painting are fascinating, there are a band of fellow beings surrounding Venus in the form of Tritons and Nerreds, two of which are blowing horns. In Metamorphoses, Apulerius merely depicts the triumph of a Venus while Poussin paints her genesis[2]. Seen in the warm clouds above, riding on a chariot in the sky by six doves is the infant form of Venus. On her journey to creation she encounters transformation which is signified by the dark storm clouds above. This is painted to contrast the entire tone of the painting so markedly that it bears a special meaning. Poussin again employs his usage of literary interpretation in the form of Lucretius’ didactic poem De rerum natura or “On the Nature of Things”[4]. In this poem’s prologue, there lies a single significant line: “Te dea, te fugiunt venti, Te nubile caeli Adventumque tuum…”. This translates to
It was important that the setting did not exactly reflect or imitate a real place in its entirety but to highlight the divinity, magnificence and importance of the event or subject in an effort to not distract the audience. However, Poussin did provide a small piece of evidence in the form of a spilling vase at the base of the painting. This could symbolize a river near a mountainous island in the Mediterranean. Evidence has shown that the archaeological site of Paphos (a mountainous island of Cyprus) is near the mouth of the Bocarus River which could very well be the paintings’ setting