Venus and Mars

Veronese painted this in Venice in the 1570s, and it may have been made for an emperor. By 1621 it hung in Prague in the collection of Rudolf II, the Habsburg ruler who filled his castle with mythological pictures, and it was possibly commissioned by his predecessor Maximilian II. The subject is love taming war. Mars, the god of battle, sits disarmed while a small cupid ties him to Venus with a cord and another holds back his warhorse. Milk flows from Venus, a sign of love's nourishing side. Veronese was one of the great colourists of Venice, and the whole thing glows with silk and flesh and deep reds. There is one change hidden underneath. X-rays show he first painted Venus clothed in drapery, then went back and stripped it away.