Venus

Francis Derwent Wood, R.A. (1871-1926)

Before 1905

Gilt bronze niche figure

Source: The Studio (1905): 305

The pose of Venus whose right hand holds her beautful hair away from her head perhaps is intended to remind the view of poems by D. G. Rossetti (“Body's Beauty” and the accompanying painting Lady Lilith) and A. C. Swinburne (“Laus Veneris”), both of which emphasize the fatal snare of those beautiful strands.

Text and image correction by George P. Landow

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