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Post Info TOPIC: Sandro Botticelli, Venus and Mars
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Sandro Botticelli, Venus and Mars
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One of the National Gallerys best-known paintings, a scene of pastoral bliss by Botticelli, is officially regarded as a story of the all-conquering power of love, but a new study suggests that it has a more racy meaning. Venus and Mars may also be an illustration of the potency of hallucinogenic drugs.
A fruit held by a satyr in the bottom right of the painting has been identified as belonging to Datura stramonium, a plant with a history of sending people mad and making them want to strip off their clothes. Its hallucinogenic effects were recorded in Ancient Greek texts and it has since been used as an aphrodisiac and a poison.
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Mars, God of War, was one of the lovers of Venus, Goddess of Love. Here Mars is asleep and unarmed, while Venus is awake and alert. The meaning of the picture is that love conquers war, or love conquers all.
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