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Rossetti, Dante Gabriel - Venus Verticordia
Identifier
001731
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Quote from the Walker Art Gallery
The title, 'Venus, turner of hearts', derives from Latin literature, where it designates the role of Venus, goddess of love and beauty.... Rossetti interpreted it to mean turning men's hearts away from fidelity. This is evident in his sonnet for the picture. The roses, honeysuckle, apple and nude figure all contribute to the theme of love and sexuality.
She hath the apple in her hand for thee,
Yet almost in her heart would hold it back;
She muses, with her eyes upon the track
Of that which in thy spirit they can see.
Haply, 'Behold, he is at peace,' saith she;
'Alas! the apple for his lips, - the dart
That follows its brief sweetness to his heart,-
The wandering of his feet perpetually!'
A little space her glance is still and coy;
But if she give the fruit that works her spell,
Those eyes shall flame as for her Phrygian boy.
Then shall her bird's strained throat the woe foretell,
And her far seas moan as a single shell,
And through her dark grove strike the light of Troy.
This is almost the only example of a nude in Rossetti's work. However, in the later 1860s a number of English artists began to experiment with the nude figure. Rossetti's painting, designed as early as 1863, was among the first in this remarkable Victorian revival of the nude.
A description of the experience
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