Paris » Gallery #6: Paris: Musée d'Orsay and Musée Rodin
The Birth of Venus (Naissance de Venus)
Alexandre Cabanel
Oil on canvas, 1863
"Cabanel's Venus has all the refined eroticism that was expected... of the time. She is
idealised and devoid of any blemish or body hair. She is sexually passive, characterless, and
more perfect than is possible... She is the ultimate male fantasy, voluptuous yet chaste, as well
as accommodating. Her form, a brilliant performance of draughtsmanship and careful,
systematic modelling, is the 19th century's version of ancient and Renaissance styles."
Alexandre Cabanel
Oil on canvas, 1863
"Cabanel's Venus has all the refined eroticism that was expected... of the time. She is
idealised and devoid of any blemish or body hair. She is sexually passive, characterless, and
more perfect than is possible... She is the ultimate male fantasy, voluptuous yet chaste, as well
as accommodating. Her form, a brilliant performance of draughtsmanship and careful,
systematic modelling, is the 19th century's version of ancient and Renaissance styles."
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