Three Artworks that Tell of Venus’ Triumph Over Mars

When Love Conquers War

Mars and Venus United by Love (1570s) by Paolo Veronese. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, U.S. Image source The Met (open access)

Sometimes art can teach us the most fundamental of lessons.

The painting above shows Venus, the goddess of love and fertility. Next to her is Mars, the god of war.

When read as an allegory, the message is of his aggressive nature subdued by her grace. When Venus and Mars are shown…