The Birth of Venus (Bouguereau)
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| The Birth of Venus |
| William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879 |
| oil on canvas |
| 300 × 218 cm |
| Musée d'Orsay |
The Birth of Venus (La Naissance de Vénus) is one of the most famous paintings by 19th century painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It depicts not the actual birth of Venus from the sea, but the transportation of Venus in a shell (a visual metaphor for the vulva) from the sea to Paphos in Cyprus. For Bouguereau, it was truly a tour de force. The canvas stands at just over 9'10" high, and 7'2" wide. The subject matter, as well as the composition, resembles the rather more famous rendition of this subject, Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, as well as Raphael's painting, The Nymph Galatea.
The painting is currently held in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
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