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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileafter Hendrick Goltzius
Venus sits partially nude with Cupid in her lap, who holds a flaming torch that illuminates the group. Behind them, a satyr-like Bacchus offers a cluster of grapes while Ceres holds a bounty of harvested fruits. The scene uses dramatic lighting and soft, elongated forms to represent the dependency of passion on physical sustenance.
Based on a line from Terence’s play 'Eunuchus', this allegory was a popular theme in Renaissance humanism and Neoplatonism, exploring the relationship between the base physical appetites and the higher flames of desire. It reflects the late Mannerist interest in moralizing classical mythology within the sophisticated intellectual circles of Haarlem and the court of Rudolf II.
Terence
The artwork is a literal visual translation of the line 'Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus' from his play Eunuchus.
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino's Neoplatonic theories on the 'De Amore' often categorized the different types of love and their reliance on the material or celestial realms.
Object
Engraving
allegory
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Royal Collection
Public domain
1049 × 1650 px
58accd8de47adfb63490f28e7ea9844264f4ee96
July 11, 2020
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.