Venus op een bed gezeten 1634

Claude Goyrand etched this image of Venus on a bed in the 17th century. Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, is often accompanied by symbols of fertility and desire. Here, she is depicted with a dove, a bird long associated with love and peace. The dove’s symbolism is rich, appearing in various forms across cultures. In ancient Greece, it was sacred to Aphrodite, Venus’s Greek counterpart, embodying the renewal of life. We see its echoes in the Christian tradition as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The enduring fascination with Venus and her dove speaks to our collective memory and subconscious desires. These symbols resurface across centuries, each time imbued with new nuances, yet still echoing the primal themes of love, beauty, and the eternal cycle of life.