Description
Painting also known as "Venus in the Mirror" or "The Party of Venus".
Peter Paul Rubens presented his Venus in front of the mirror as the ultimate symbol of beauty.
She is aware of the viewer in a mirror that frames her face like a portrait. A great combination is made with the sensual reproduction of her skin and silky hair, which is further enlivened by the contrast with the dark-skinned maid. The few expensive accessories, decorative additions to elaborate clothing, emphasize the nudity of the figure. The sensual qualities of the painting are created by Rubens' subtle painterly approach. He alternates schematic brushstrokes, drawn on the ground like a transparent veil, with compact areas, painted in great detail. A particularly attractive feature of the image is the contrast between the goddess's encounter with the viewer, which seems to occur almost by chance, and the depiction of her beauty, as if conceived for a viewer. The mirror that Cupid holds for the goddess reveals an additional level of meaning: the reflection of Venus, revealing her beauty to the viewer, becomes a symbol of painting competing with nature to produce as lifelike an image as possible.
Rubens modeled his work on compositions by Titian and Veronese combining Venus and a mirror, and probably offered this possible interpretation as well. it becomes a symbol of painting that competes with nature to produce an image that is as real as possible. Rubens modeled his work on compositions by Titian and Veronese combining Venus and a mirror, and probably offered this possible interpretation as well.