Venus and Mercury Presenting Anteros to Jupiter

Around 1560, working for private Venetian patrons who wanted classical stories on their walls, Veronese painted an allegory of a particular kind of love. The child being lifted up to Jupiter is Anteros, the god of love returned, the counterpart of his brother Eros, who stood for desire. An old myth held that Eros remained a lonely child until Anteros joined him, because love only grows once it is answered. So the scene is really about reciprocity, with Venus and Mercury presenting the god of mutual affection to the ruler of the gods for his blessing. Veronese gives the Olympians the same warm colour and easy grandeur he brought to a Venetian banquet, sacred or pagan making little difference to him. The picture hangs today in the Uffizi.