Slapende Venus 1670 - 1724

Editor: This is Jacob Gole's "Sleeping Venus," an engraving from sometime between 1670 and 1724. It has a kind of languid, almost unsettling beauty to it. The figure is so vulnerable... What do you see in this piece, beyond the obvious mythological representation? Curator: This image offers an interesting lens through which we can examine the construction of female sexuality and power in the Dutch Golden Age. While ostensibly a representation of Venus, goddess of love, it simultaneously reveals the voyeuristic gaze that was prevalent at the time. Consider the tradition of the *schilderijen*, or "painted screens." Does this remind you of anything? Editor: Not sure. Can you expand on that? Curator: Well, this work romanticizes female nudity within a safe and confined context. In that era, and really persisting to this day, female sexuality was heavily policed, wasn't it? Notice how Venus is asleep and inert, almost staged, devoid of agency, yet her image invites scrutiny. Do you see any kind of dichotomy in how women are represented versus the reality? Editor: Definitely, the expectation of passivity versus lived experiences...And also, while she's supposedly powerful, the goddess of love even, she's presented here in a weakened state. Is it then about how the patriarchy contains the goddess or reduces it? Curator: Precisely. The male gaze dominates, transforming the goddess into a passive object of desire. By examining such depictions, we can better understand the complex power dynamics inherent in art history, as well as contemporary societal standards of women's status that exist today. This seemingly benign image offers so much more, doesn’t it? Editor: It does, yes. It reframes everything I thought I knew about depictions of goddesses. There's more going on under the surface of that era. Thanks so much for that insight.