User:Helenliska/Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum

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Venus was the divine protector of Pompeii, and featured in many frescoes around the city. The goddess of love, sex, and fertility, Venus was closely associated with eroticism and prostitution in ancient Rome. This mural of Venus from Pompeii was never seen by Botticelli, the painter of The Birth of Venus, but may have been a Roman copy of the then famous painting by Apelles which Lucian mentioned. The fresco of Mars and Venus, located in the tablinum of the House of Mars and Venus, is believed to model the proper family roles of husband and wife for those entering the home. Mars and Venus, a popular couple from mythology, were represented in many house's tablinum for this reason. Venus has appeared in Pompeian artwork at least 197 times, the majority of these depictions located in a home's reception area where a guest would not need an invitation to enter, although she also appears on tavern signs and political banners. Previous scholarship assumed Venus would be more common in cubicula, small inclosed rooms that may function as a bedroom, due to her association with love and sex. Recent studies have shown this is not the case and that Venus is more commonly portrayed in large common rooms. Approximately one third of artwork featuring Venus represents some sort of love scene. There are two Venus types found almost eclusivley in Pompeii, Venus Pompeiana ("Venus of Pompeii") and Venus Pescatrice ("Venus the Fisher-woman"). Venus Pompeiana is depicted standing rigidly, usually trapped with a mantle and holding her right arm across her chest. She is most commonly depicted in places that would be seen by many people, possible to demonstrate a house's patron goddess or for protection as this form of Venus has special religious and ritual significance to Pompeii. Venus Pescatrice is typically shown sitting down, holding a fishing rod and is always semi-naked. The depictions of Venus Pescatrice are all similar in strucuter, suggesting they derive from the same source, though this source has not been found.