Venus (mythology)

Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and love. Venus corresponds to the Greek Aphrodite. Undraped figures of Venus were favorite subjects of classical art. The Venus of Milo, found by a rustic in the Island of Melos, 1820, is preserved in the Louvre, Paris, as one of its chief treasures. The arms are broken off, but figure, dra­pery, pose, and face are chaste and impres­sive. The Venus de Medici preserved in a gallery at Florence is equally celebrated as exhibiting perfection of female form. Ve­nus appears in the names of a large number of plants, animals, and shells noted for grace and beauty.

Pomona loves the orchard ;
And Liber loves the vine;
And Pales loves the straw-built shed
Warm with the breath of Kine ;
And Venus loves the whispers
Of plightful youth and maid,
In April's ivory moonlight,
Beneath the chestnut shade. —Macaulay.