Venus Appearing to Aeneas c. 1505

Marcantonio Raimondi created this engraving of Venus Appearing to Aeneas in the early 16th century, during the height of the Italian Renaissance. Here, Raimondi illustrates a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid, where Venus appears to her son, the Trojan hero Aeneas. Look at how Venus, the goddess of love, is portrayed with a gentle touch, guiding and protecting her son. Yet, her power is evident, an arrow at her back, suggesting the dual nature of women at the time. Aeneas, the father of Rome, sits, with a muscular physique, embodying masculine ideals of the Renaissance. The son of Venus, Aeneas embodies the weight of ancestry, legacy, and patriarchal inheritance, while Venus reflects the power, and potential subjugation, of women. Raimondi’s print invites us to reflect on the construction of identity.