Venus Verticordia 1868

Curator: Welcome. We are standing before Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 1868 oil painting, Venus Verticordia. Editor: What strikes me immediately is the overwhelming abundance. The painting surface seems packed to the brim with flora and the figure of Venus herself. There is almost no room to breathe. Curator: The painting's structure certainly lends itself to that impression. Rossetti employs a tightly compressed composition, emphasizing verticality, with Venus centrally positioned, flanked by a dense tapestry of roses and honeysuckle. Notice how her flowing hair mirrors the cascade of the surrounding foliage. Editor: Speaking of that foliage, it teems with visual symbolism. Roses for love, of course, and honeysuckle, traditionally linked to passionate affection. It's as if Rossetti is intent on portraying not just Venus, but the very essence of desire and beauty's potentially dangerous force. Curator: Precisely. Her averted gaze, while maintaining frontality, is significant. Rossetti creates tension, and he is also doing important work by exploring color, particularly the interplay of the model's Titian hair and the various greens of the surrounding flora, set off by the blue in the background. This, along with other works of the period, set a type for painting idealized female portraits, in particular by developing formal painting techniques based on the earlier Venetian Renaissance school. Editor: And let's not overlook the apple and arrow. That apple directly evokes the myth of Venus's victory in the Judgment of Paris. Yet, it also hints at temptation. The arrow is poised, perhaps threatening, reminding us that love, in all its glory, can also inflict pain. Is it piercing her body? Is it she that is inflicting that wound? We simply can't say from the image, so powerful in it's suggestive use of symbolic motifs. Curator: That arrow indeed provides a sharp visual counterpoint to the overall softness of the figure, while that ambiguity opens into an inquiry of who controls desire or what form desire takes on. Rossetti is not offering easy answers in Venus Verticordia. He is painting human feeling. Editor: It makes one contemplate love and beauty, not just as idyllic ideals, but forces of complicated agency and effect. Curator: Yes. Thank you for joining me for this glimpse into the fascinating layers of Rossetti’s masterpiece. Editor: Indeed, an image full of complexity, both beautiful and unnerving, wouldn’t you say?