An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, also known as Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time

An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, also known as Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time. Agnolo Bronzino. Venus holds a golden apple, recalling to the viewer the legend of the Judgement of Paris, at which the goddess was declared the fairest of all the goddesses. In her other hand is an arrow from Cupid's quiver, whether caught or directed by her. Cupid, incidentally, is her son, no longer a pot-bellied infant but a shapely youth. All the stranger, then, is their kiss. The putto of Folly, or of Reckless Pleasure, showers the pair with rose petals; between him and Venus lie discarded the masks of deceit and vice, while grey-bearded Chronos holds a blue drapery over them, from behind which peers the distorted face of Oblivion.

The painting, dated 1545, was presented by the House of Medici to Francis I of France. Today it is kept in the National Gallery in London.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, also known as Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

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