This library is built in the open.
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello — we’d love to hear from you.
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileMars and Venus lie exposed in bed, entangled in a gossamer-thin metal net forged by Vulcan, who pulls back a curtain to reveal their adultery. From the heavens, Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune, and other gods gaze down at the pair, while Cupid sits in the foreground amidst Mars's discarded armor. In the background, a small window shows Vulcan's forge where the Cyclopes work at an anvil.
In the Neoplatonic tradition of Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, the union of Mars (strife) and Venus (love) represents the cosmic principle of Harmony (Harmonia). The presence of the planetary gods and the 'eye' of Sol (Apollo/Phoebus) revealing the scene links the image to the broader Renaissance theme of the Sun as the all-seeing light of Truth and the soul's exposure before the divine.
HGoltzius inuent sculpt et diuul. gauit. Aº 1585. Ut Phabus nitido lasciuum lumine Martem, Et Paphia prodit turpia furta Deæ: Sic fucata Deus scelerata crimina vitæ Cernit, et occultum non sinit esse nefas. N.G.
Translation
H. Goltzius invented, sculpted, and published. In the year 1585. As Phoebus with his shining light exposes wanton Mars and the Paphian goddess in their shameful thefts: So God discerns the painted, wicked crimes of life, and does not allow sin to remain hidden. N.G.
Ovid, Metamorphoses
The primary literary source for the narrative of Vulcan's snare (Book IV).
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino's Neoplatonic commentaries often interpret the coupling of Mars and Venus as the tempering of severity by grace to produce universal order.
Object
Engraving
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
https://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:1620479
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
2065 × 2835 px
d3cf76695f47ec151b74116fbb3218458b15ca12
March 13, 2021
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.