Pompeii_ Domus Vettiorum, Fresco representing the struggle of Bread and Love, No. 11200 c. 1880 - 1890

This fresco from the Domus Vettiorum in Pompeii captures "the struggle of Bread and Love," likely made before the city's destruction in 79 AD. The scene features the god of wine and revelry, Bacchus, and the goddess of love, Venus, amidst symbols of abundance and pleasure. Consider the enduring motif of intertwined love and sustenance, the intoxicating pleasures of earthly life. Bacchus, wreathed in ivy, finds parallels in Dionysian imagery across cultures, embodying the irrational, ecstatic release. Venus, the embodiment of beauty and desire, carries echoes of Aphrodite from ancient Greece. These figures and their attendant symbols resonate through time. Think of the Renaissance, when Botticelli resurrected Venus, or Titian, whose Bacchuses celebrated sensual abandon. The power of such imagery lies in its ability to tap into deep-seated human desires and fears, a collective memory of primal instincts that resurface again and again, each time filtered through the lens of a new era. The human psyche, as it were, is forever in pursuit of that elusive balance between the earthly delights and spiritual yearning.